6. Eventually, The "New Nation" Turns Heel by Replacing R-Truth With Titus O'Neil
In Ron Killings' 17-year career as a pro wrestler he's distinguished himself as (even as a heel) being a thoroughly likable wrestler who is able to do whatever is required of him at any position on the card. Ultimately, in order for this "New Nation" to grow, Killings - the most well rounded of the crew - needs to separate from them in order to wrestle them as a babyface and put them through "finishing school." Ideally, this starts when R-Truth can't get over the hump against a debuting heel like, possibly, Corey Graves. This "New Nation" thinks Graves is wack, and that he's really not the "Savior of Misbehavior" that he claims to be. However, he continuously loses, which causes Brodus to get annoyed and start being distant. During a backstage segment, we "accidentally" see Brodus and Titus O'Neil in the corner having a conversation. The next week, Truth asks Brodus about what he saw. Brodus tells Truth that he's paranoid, and all seems to be well. Eventually, there comes a point where Truth is injured by Graves after being locked in the "Lucky 13" and isn't at Raw. This is the moment when Clay calls a "New Nation" meeting in the back, and at various points during the show Renee Young is trying knock on the door to see what's happening as Clay is yelling and there appears to be a brouhaha brewing. Of course, at some point Titus comes up to the door and when he knocks, Clay welcomes him into the room. Cue one week later and Truth returns on crutches. He apologizes to the "New Nation," but Brodus starts in and Xavier and Big E. can't seem to lock eyes with him. Eventually, Titus O'Neil's music plays and he interrupts the segment. He rips on Truth too, then announces that he's the new leader of the "New Nation" and they beat down R-Truth. The last thing we hear about the "New Nation" that week is a segment where Truth is on a gurney leaving the arena swearing revenge and knowing who he needs to call.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
