Will WWE Suck The Life Out of Ron Killings?
It was plain to everyone that whether it was his fault, a flawed development territory or something political, the debut of former TNA wrestler and tag team standout Chris Harris, as Braden Walker was bad in every possible way and his overall character has had all the life sucked right out of it. Now it’s never too late to change, but will the debut of former TNA star Ron Killings have the same anti climatic atmosphere when he dons the persona of R-Truth on Smackdown?
Killings definitely tailed off during the latter days of his TNA career, bobbing around in 3-Live-Kru and being stuck with premandonna football player Pacman “not allowed to wrestle so why am I here” Jones as a tag partner, but during the formative early years of TNA when it had more of an identity than it does now, Ron Killings was one of the main standout performers. He was athletically gifted, had a great body and although his rapping definitely wasn’t up to 2pac’s standards, coupled with his cocky bad attitude made him a legitimate main event player and one worth keeping an eye on.
I’ve just been watching the “Best Of The NWA Title Matches” (the first version) which was one of TNA’s early DVD releases and the Ron Killings on this was far cry from the “suckering suckertash” of his K-Kwik days and the watered down version during the days when TNA actually started getting national exposure. He was a no shit, cocky badass with the NWA title in the first few months of the promotion’s start. If that doesn’t show faith then I don’t know what would. Then again this was a time when TNA had cage dancers and blood in a lot of matches. So that doesn’t bode well for a now PG version of WWE.
Killings definitely has more going for him than Braden Walker. First off he’s African American in a promotion that has two black guys as champion and just redebuted one from the past (D’Lo Brown). The cynical would say Michael Hayes’ drunken jibe has helped the Truth’s cause. He also has the benefit of being here before and his proven mic track record gives him even more of a boost. We’ll just have to see if learning the “WWE Style” doesn’t mean they’ve taken the bounce out of his step. Imagine Killings vs Kofi Kingston.
By all accounts there is at least a vignette of R-Truth tonight on Smackdown so I’ll be watching intently and from what I’ve learned talking will be a big part of his gimmick! This really is his chance to shine!
