WWE's R-Truth debacle scratches at one of the biggest dilemmas in pro-wrestling

[ASFN Admin]

You must be registered for see images attach

Was the R-Truth release all a work? (Scott Brinegar/WWE via Getty Images)
WWE via Getty Images

You know things are going swimmingly when you’re emulating Michael Scott. Anyone who hasn’t watched "The Office" might be unfamiliar with Steve Carrell’s manager character’s penchant for so-called “fake firings” — a hapless tactic which now seems to have found favor with the most powerful man in professional wrestling.

Here’s a quick recap of how we got here: Last Sunday, the WWE lifer R-Truth announced that he had parted ways with the company, in what looked like a pretty unceremonious departure. The news was more surprising given that, just eight days earlier, the beloved WWE veteran had battled John Cena in a match that had proved to be an impressive merch-shifter at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

For much of last week, the story rumbled on behind the scenes, with various WWE stars praising Truth and reliable reporters — hat tip, as always, to Sean Ross Sapp — picking up the backstage discontent around the decision. On Monday night, there was a bit of a social media explosion when the “WWE Raw” fans chanted multiple times for Truth, making their displeasure clear.

By the time the weekend rolled out, the narrative seemed to have settled. Truth might be approaching his 30-year anniversary with WWE, but wrestling is an unsentimental business at heart — certainly with TKO in charge. In any event, Truth’s long service probably meant that his salary had reached levels that couldn’t be justified.


Then at last night’s Money in the Bank everything changed. During the final stages of the main event — a tag match pitting Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso against John Cena and Logan Paul — a mysterious hooded figure slid into the ring to thwart the heels and deliver a beatdown to Cena. Who was this crusader of justice? R-Truth.

“All part of the show,” gloated WWE/Dunder Mifflin man Triple H at the post-event press conference, making the audacious suggestion that the whole thing had been what wrestling fans like to call “a work” — i.e. a fictional plot to wrong-foot us all by thinking that a respected employee had been fired in order to maximize the emotional impact of his eventual return.

It wouldn’t be the wildest thing to happen in WWE. But the problem is that all reliable signs point to it being, well, bullcrap — or at the very least extremely unlikely. For a start, Truth’s release came at the same time as other departures (Carlito and Valhalla were also let go). Then there's the wave of WWE talents who have confirmed they thought the release was real, and the fact that R-Truth’s own son was apparently duped by this grand conspiracy.

That leaves us with two possibilities: Either WWE successfully executed perhaps one of its greatest modern swerves in history (albeit one based on a rather distasteful premise) or they realized the error of their ways in terminating a fan favorite and instead rushed to rectify it by orchestrating his “surprise” return. Which do you think is more likely?

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time Triple H’s empire has called an audible. We all remember the infamous u-turn before WrestleMania XL, where WWE tried to pivot from Cody Rhodes winning the Royal Rumble to instead set up The Rock vs. Roman Reigns, before abandoning those plans after a sizable fan backlash.


We also know how WWE dealt with that particular humdinger: By putting out a vanity documentary which implied the whole thing had been a roaring success. (They can believe what they like, but I’m sure I’m not the only wrestling fan who still shudders when I hear Cody saying “... but not at WrestleMania.”)

A number of pundits have already asked the question — at least rhetorically — as to why Triple H didn’t just hold up his hands and say something like, “Look, we got a mistake on this one, but I’m glad we could sort it out.” I don’t think they’re being naive to assume that WWE fans would've respected the honesty of the situation.

Philosophically, though, this whole Truth debacle scratches at one of the biggest dilemmas in pro-wrestling. Deep down, we all know that the product only works if we agree to suspend our disbelief and allow ourselves to be tricked and manipulated at times. But we also assume there are some things that are off-limits when it comes to rug-pulls.

If this really was a work, then it leaves me with the same grubby feeling I had when NXT did that neck injury angle involving Ilja Dragunov and Ridge Holland (a man who was involved, albeit not through any fault on his part, in the unfortunate and very genuine neck injury to Big E). There are some things that should be off-limits for storyline purposes and someone genuinely losing their livelihood is on that list.

You can protest all you like about what’s “best for business,” but that ignores the potential commercial ramifications here. TKO is a publicly-listed business, whose stock price depends partly on the quality and availability of the talent. If these things are presented as legitimate news stories (at the encouragement of WWE), that could have serious consequences.

And how about the next time WWE announces another unfortunate wave of releases? Are we expected to factor in that the whole thing could be a ruse aimed at drumming up fan interest in saving the skin of our favorite talents? If that’s the case, we’re really through the looking glass here.

“You enjoying the show?” Triple H asked upon taking his seat at Saturday night’s presser. Well, yes, I was actually — but after this fiasco I can’t be the only one who is seeing things a bit differently this morning.

Continue reading...