With The Undertaker, Big Show, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Kane, Goldust and Kurt Angle still featuring on WWE programming in 2018, it’s easy to forget that there’s another 20-year veteran in the locker room right now: R-Truth.
The 46-year-old, real name Ron Killings, began wrestling in 1997 and quickly made his way to WWE in 1999, debuting one year later with the name K-Kwik in a tag team with Road Dogg.
After leaving WWE in 2002, Killings spent five years with Impact Wrestling before returning to work for Vince McMahon’s company in 2008, and he has since gone on to become the likeable, delusional, slightly insane R-Truth.
The majority of fans know that Truth pursues music outside of wrestling, but did you know that one of the most important people in all of WWE is a huge fan of him? And that he had a bizarre job before he made it in the wrestling business?
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In this article, let’s take a look at five things you didn’t know about Truth.
#5 He has appeared in five PPV main events
R-Truth has been a lower-to-mid card performer for much of his time in WWE, but that changed in 2010-2011 when he suddenly shot to the main-event scene and feuded with stars including John Cena and The Rock.
His first PPV headliner came in February 2010 at Elimination Chamber, where he was eliminated first by CM Punk in a six-man Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Later that year, he was part of the seven-on-seven SummerSlam main event, representing Team WWE in their victory over The Nexus, while he headlined another Elimination Chamber PPV in early 2011, this time being eliminated first by Sheamus.
It was in mid-to-late 2011 when Truth had his most memorable time in the main-event spotlight, facing Cena one-on-one for the WWE Championship at Capitol Punishment in June before teaming with The Miz against Cena and The Rock at Survivor Series in November.
#4 His first WWE match was against Katie Vick’s brother
In October 2002, Triple H and Kane were involved in one of the most controversial storylines in WWE history. It involved a car crash, a coffin, distasteful scenes and a lady called Katie Vick – click here to read the full story.
The original idea behind the questionable angle was to introduce Katie’s brother, Scott Vick, to WWE television as an opponent for HHH and Kane, but he failed to impress in dark show matches and the company decided against offering him a contract.
Two years earlier, one of his dark show matches took place before a taping of WWE Jakked in April 2000, and his opponent was none other than K-Krush (now known as R-Truth).
Krush picked up the victory and he would go on to debut later that year on SmackDown, going by the name K-Kwik, as Road Dogg’s tag partner.
#3 He presented a game show for the WWE Network
From Table For 3 and Ride Along to Story Time and Swerved, the WWE Network is full of programming that showcases what WWE Superstars are like when they’re out of character and outside of the squared circle.
In March 2017, WWE shot a pilot episode of a game show involving Superstars, hosted by R-Truth, and its first season was picked up and due to air later in the year.
However, according to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, the show was cancelled due to cost-cutting measures and the footage of the pilot episode has never been released.
#2 He was a stripper when he was younger
If you want to know more about the man behind the R-Truth character, it’s well worth watching/listening to his 39-minute appearance on The Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast from March 2017.
One of the most interesting stories from the interview comes at the 15:07 mark, where Truth revealed that he used to be a stripper before his days in the wrestling industry.
Once he stopped laughing hysterically, the former United States champion admitted he “felt silly after a while” because his style of hip-hop dancing wasn’t exactly suited to that line of work.
#1 He is ‘one of Vince McMahon’s favourite people’
The WWE Universe has been reminded over the last few weeks just how great the R-Truth character can be, with his unique sense of humour being one of the highlights of SmackDown Live recently.
Speaking on his Conversation With The Big Guy podcast, former WWE Superstar Ryback has mentioned how Vince McMahon finds Truth hilarious and that the two-time Hardcore champion is “one of Vince’s favourite people in the entire world”.
Truth spoke about his relationship with the WWE owner on The Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast in 2017, revealing that Vince enjoyed his heel run in 2011 but he much prefers to see him as a babyface.