WWE Backstage Reaction To "RUTHLESS" R-Truth Cut - Least Popular Release In YEARS (WWE News)
WWE talent left shocked and in disbelief at R-Truth's release.
With yesterday bringing the news that R-Truth and Carlito will be leaving WWE when their current deals are up, there has been a particularly strong backstage reaction Truth's departure.
Per Fightful Select, R-Truth's exit is seen as a shocking one, with the 53-year-old viewed as a "WWE lifer".
This report notes that Truth was contacted by talent relations over the weekend and told that his existing WWE deal would not be renewed. From those Fightful spoke to, there was no bad behaviour from R-Truth that led to this decision, and he'd done nothing wrong. Truth himself was confused by the news, as were talent within the company, with a number of those talents having reached out to check on the veteran.
Fightful describes the reaction to R-Truth's release as unlike any release that the outlet has covered before, in that it was news that was met with total shock and disbelief, with one talent calling it "total nonsense" and another calling the current TKO/WWE regime "ruthless". As Fightful adds, this decision is the "most criticised and universally disliked" exit that they've covered during the outlet's nine-year lifespan, noting how, during that time, they've never heard any rumblings of anyone having anything negative to say about R-Truth, and that the former United States Champion has always been spoken about "glowingly".
Another reason why R-Truth's departure is such a surprising one is that he's had one of the best-selling WWE shirts in recent weeks. That'd be the Ron Cena tee that Truth wore for his Saturday Night's Main Event match against John Cena.
In terms of what could be next for the real-life Ron Killings, he'd previously used the Ron 'The Truth' Killings name when working for TNA and the NWA, so it may well be that he returns to that moniker. Also, Fightful believes it's likely that Killings owns the rights to his WWE entrance theme, which was produced by Ron and used by him during his last TNA run.
As one would expect, there has been immediate interest in booking Ron Killings by various top independent promotions for when his WWE contract is up. While Carlito has confirmed he himself has two weeks left on his contract, there's no word just yet on when R-Truth's deal expires. In the case of both men, they'll be totally free to work for any other company as and when those deals run out, with no non-compete clauses in place in such instances when a contract is allowed to just naturally expire.
R-Truth last competed on this past Friday's SmackDown, where he lost to JC Mateo, with a post-match attack from Mateo and Solo Sikoa, and a save by Jimmy Uso, suggesting we'd be getting Mateo & Sikoa vs. Truth & Uso at some point in the coming weeks.