WWE: What’s the real Truth?By Tony Cottam| May 29, 2011 The Live Wire Well, hello. Welcome once again to the column that is very open to bribery. Chocolate biscuits and unmarked currency, preferably – but all offers considered. Now, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m digging R-Truth. I’m shocked myself, but yeah… he’s been on a roll, and I do look forward to his bizarre rants and promos. Does that make me a “Little Jimmy”? I love the fact he’s ditched the music and the dancing, and is making a big deal of it, justifying it by claiming he’s not here to entertain. His heel character is believable, it comes from a place that you can understand. He’s amped up certain characteristics, and gone off on a heel tangent that in theory, makes sense. The best heel characters work from that premise. Look at how believable CM Punk’s straight edge zealot was, or Dave Batista’s angle when he claimed John Cena was stealing HIS spotlight… working from a solid base, but exaggerating and amplifying is how the best characters are created. R-Truth has never really impressed me; he’s always struck me as someone that’s just there. If he’s ever going to make an impact, this is probably his time. Fair play to the guy, he’s running with it. His OTT facial expressions, and new attitude to go with them, are making him the most watchable heel on Raw right now. Combine that with the added heat of his on-screen hospitalising of JoMo and he’s on fire right now. Kinda apt, given all this came from his smoking habit, dontcha think? This is his time, he has to make a go of it, he’ll never get another shot at the “brass ring” like poor Zak Ryder tried to do in Z! True Long Island Story – which you should all be watching, if you’re not. Here’s the thing though. In the WWE, these hot patches never last long. He HAS to make the most of it… and I’m not sure, given how mind numbingly average Truth has been in the past, that he’s capable of it. I want him to prove me wrong, and keep this momentum going, I really do. Even in TNA, he was never the focal point, even when he was the NWA champion, he was more a peripheral character than the main focus that a champion should be… more or less in a similar position to The Miz in the lead up to WrestleMania, to be honest. He has to make a move and make his name now. I don’t really see him as a top line face, but as a heel, he seems to have more scope to develop, to improve and grow his image amongst the fans, the workers and most importantly, the WWE creative team. They seem to view him as somewhat of a pet project, and that can only be a good thing… unless he’s perceived to have dropped the ball, and then it’s back to the midcard, if not lower. And that, my friends… is the Truth.
