R-Truth release linked to Vince McMahon friendship, former WWE star speculates

R-Truth had a good relationship with Vince McMahon when he worked for the former WWE Chairman. Stevie Richards, best known for his WWE run from 1999 to 2008, recently speculated whether Truth's relationship with the 79-year-old contributed to his departure.

On June 1, Truth surprisingly announced WWE had released him. The 53-year-old's exit came a week after he lost against John Cena at Saturday Night's Main Event. His new "Ron Cena" shirt was also among the company's top sellers before it was removed from WWE Shop.

On The Stevie Richards Show, Richards shared a theory on Truth's exit possibly being linked to his association with his former boss. In January 2024, McMahon resigned from WWE's parent company, TKO, following misconduct allegations.

"Could you think this is another way to shed anybody [from the Vince McMahon era]?" Richards said. "Which is amazing because Bruce Prichard and Michael Hayes are still there, but they're trying to shed the people that he [Vince McMahon] thought were great. I don't know if that's another motivation to say, 'We're getting rid of anybody that Vince liked.'" [8:48 – 9:05]

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Truth appeared in a segment with Vince McMahon on the 1,000th SmackDown episode on October 16, 2018. The two men danced alongside Carmella, Shane McMahon, and Stephanie McMahon.

Stevie Richards on Vince McMahon's view of R-Truth

In July 2022, Triple H replaced Vince McMahon as WWE's creative figurehead. R-Truth has still featured regularly on television during The Game's tenure in charge. However, he missed 13 months of in-ring action between November 2022 and December 2023 due to a torn quad.

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According to Stevie Richards, Truth would probably have kept his job if McMahon still ran WWE:

"R-Truth was famously Vince McMahon's favorite wrestler because he would make him laugh. He was fun to be around. He was very entertained by him, so Vince, if he was ever on the bubble, which I imagine with the sporadic nature of his appearances at one point, that he might have been on the bubble once or multiple times, Vince probably saved his job because Vince saw him for the entertainer that we see him as." [8:16 – 8:41]

Truth's final WWE match ended in defeat against JC Mateo on the May 30 episode of SmackDown.

Please credit The Stevie Richards Show and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.

About the author

Danny Hart is a journalist who has been reporting on pro wrestling (WWE) at Sportskeeda since 2017. He grew up as a massive fan of football/soccer and wrestling, leading him to pursue a career in sports journalism.

Before assuming his current role, Hart worked as a football writer at Goal.com between 2009 and 2016. He prides himself on writing original content that is fact-based and highly accurate. Hart thoroughly proofreads his work before submitting it and relies only on credible sources for information.

Hart’s favorite pro wrestler is The Undertaker. He admires the 2022 WWE Hall of Famer’s ability to reinvent his character and remain relevant across his decades-long career. If given the keys to WWE’s creative department, he would bring back The Phenom for a farewell bout against AJ Styles in a stadium full of fans. Not only that, but he would love to have the multi-time world champion’s greatest rivals seated at ringside for the spectacle.

When not watching and covering sports, Hart enjoys long-distance running, playing video games, and listening to audiobooks and podcasts.

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Edited by Danny Hart