“You can’t handle the truth.”
Those were the words spoken by John Cena, twenty-four hours before Ron Killings’ surprising, but not unexpected, return to WWE after a one-week revolt by its fanbase.
The quote had extra meaning after Paul Levesque dodged at the post-show press conference, alluding to R-Truth’s disappearance and return as “all part of the show” when the truth was way more compelling.
No better authority than Ron Killings’ son, Christopher, quickly threw a cap emoji over Levesque’s comments and added, “Congrats on the new deal, Dad! Last Run”.
When Killings shared that his contract was not being renewed, it sent off a firestorm of emotional responses among fans, but more importantly, the WWE locker room. It is rare that a talent departure generates this type of response, but it crossed multiple thresholds from talent speaking out, to the often-obedient WWE crowds of the modern era, chanting throughout programming this past week for Truth.
WWE saw this maneuver as a blunder and could either dig in their heels and hope for the audience to move on, or take the response as an opportunity for a public relations “win” and a big pop to end Money in the Bank. They opted for the latter, but it took far more than simply snapping their fingers and bringing the ousted performer back.
Fightful reported that it went all the way up to company president Nick Khan to take over negotiations to secure Killings, and came together late in the week. One of the caveats appears to be Killings moving forward under his own name and understanding he was in a rare position for talent, holding a degree of leverage as WWE wanted to reverse its decision from a week ago, and time was of the essence.
The fallout occurred as sentiment regarding WWE is, at best, mixed. Attendance numbers are through the roof, but they are experiencing fatigue in other areas, with a heavier focus on their viewership decline on Netflix, John Cena’s return failing to spike SmackDown’s audience last week, and multiple business decisions that have left them looking like the bad guy. This includes its transparent counterprogramming strategy against AEW and forcing audiences to be split, pulling WrestleMania out of New Orleans, and an overall “TKO-ification” of the business that fans can understand, but don’t have to endorse.
As mentioned above, the post-Vince McMahon era of the company has been widely embraced by its fans. The days of audiences “hijacking” a show with chants or protests of talents being pushed above others are completely gone. The audience has generally been satisfied and provides a feeling that they are there to enhance, not derail, the atmosphere.
Despite many “real-world” issues concerning WWE, including being defendants in trafficking lawsuits, and a direct link to the Secretary of Education in the Republican administration, fans are unbothered by these types of issues as long as the product they enjoy is unaffected.
R-Truth struck a chord that the above examples did not, and rather than allow negative sentiments to permeate on screen, WWE made a calculated decision to hand the fans a “win”.
Paul Levesque seemed less amicable on being the front-facing figure of WWE to absorb that “L” at the press conference. When asked about whether Killings was released, Levesque avoided a direct answer and stated it was “all part of the show” and could not help but demonstrate a subtext that they are the puppet master and will not cede agency to media, fans, or outsiders.
It continues a long line of Levesque moments at these pressers, where any question that even hints at critique or second-guessing is met with a defensive tone, a window into his disdain for a 24/7 news cycle that reports on his industry.
“This’ll sound offensive, I wish I could tell people fuck off being a critic, be a fan.”
— Triple H
(via @WWE) pic.twitter.com/rwu1UM1m7h
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) April 16, 2025
This R-Truth story will likely be a footnote because it was contained to one week, and ultimately, he was brought back. But what happens during the inevitable next series of cuts, and whether this emboldens fans with a template to reverse company decisions?
TKO and WWE are far removed from being a “fan service” first operation, but this past week demonstrated that the approval of its audience is still desired and that negativity is something they do not want to be ANY part of the show.
