Ron Killings is back in the WWE and it took less than a week, prompting speculation among pundits and fans, did the revolt of the audience truly make a difference in this scenario?
At the start of June, R-Truth posted on social media that he was going to be released from his WWE deal, ending his 17-year tenure with the organization. Besides the fact that Killings, who worked for the company for about a year after his original debut on television in 2000 before he was re-signed eight years later, is one of the most versatile workers on the roster, he's considered one of the most beloved figures in the locker room. The fans revolted on social media and there was an outpouring of support for him from his peers as well.
As I wrote in an article about his release last week, as disgraceful as Vince McMahon might be as a person, he would know enough not to release a performer like Ron Killings. I also mentioned that if the TKO corporation tries to view the roster as interchangeable parts then it would eventually be detrimental to the brand.
Quite simply, Ron Killings should have a job for as long as he'd like to continue to work with WWE.
At 53, Killings is undoubtedly at the latter stages of his in-ring career, but he has the experience and skills to be a solid coach or agent. At the very least, since he has the reputation of being a genuinely nice guy, he could do very well in a PR role after he retires from the ring. I'm not being sarcastic at all, there's a reason that Hillbilly Jim was kept on the payroll for so many years.
Of course, after Killings returned to the company during the main event of the Money in The Bank pay-per-view, there was immediately speculation that perhaps the entire story was a work to set up for the moment where R-Truth cost John Cena the match, which saw him get pinned by Cody Rhodes. At the post-PPV press conference, Triple H had a casual response, implying that it was a part of the plan.
It was absolutely no surprise that the head of creative was going to suggest that he was pulling the strings all along and obviously, he's going to tell the fans what the script is, not the other way around. Usually, that should be the strategy, as the fans vote with their dollars, but shouldn't necessarily be able to dictate everything because that sets up for an unrealistic benchmark that wouldn't be able to be followed. As amazing as ECW was and it undoubtedly changed the business, it caved to the demands of the audience too often to the point that the company burned itself out.
In this case, it appears that the office realized that maybe the money they'd save on cutting Killings' contract wasn't worth the combination of the backlash from the audience and the damage it could potentially do to the locker room morale. It's not uncommon in WWE history that the office would snub their nose at the fans, seemingly out of pure spite, including Triple H himself, but the outpouring of support from the roster was a different dynamic.
Along with not wanting to give the impression that the office relinquished any of its power, bending to the demands of the audience would also potentially set a negative precedent for releases in the future as well. It's a harsh reality of the industry, but cuts are a part of the business, and in the social media age, there's already a tendency to lean into the notion that a performer is suddenly a top-notch talent just because they got released from the company. No Way Jose never had as many fans until he got his walking papers.
So, it makes sense that management doesn't want to tip their hand and give the impression that with enough of a ruckus that the audience can disrupt the overall plan. That being said, this is more or less the first major faux pas that Paul Levesque had in terms of management decisions since he took over the head position of WWE after Vince resigned in disgrace last year. Handling blunders is a part of the job so it's not as though this mishap will derail the solid business the company has done the past few years. Accurate or not, Levesque has been praised for his leadership of the WWE brand after all the negative publicity from the previously mentioned lawsuit against McMahon. It's ironic that the fans that tout Levesque's success as the head of the WWE either aren't aware or forgot about Triple H's reign of doom in the early-2000s when he got more TV time than anyone else because he was Vince's son-in-law and used his political power to make sure he maintained the top spot.
Still, the faster that they can sweep this fumble under the rug, and hopefully use it to create some compelling television, the better it will be for everyone involved, including Ron Killings. Regardless of Triple H's efforts to attempt to imply that it was a work, both The Wrestling Observer and Fightful reported that Killings was legitimately finished with the company last week. I have to say that I don't think this is any type of work, mostly because there's no way that the office could've predicted the type of reaction that Killings' release garnered from the audience or the roster. As much record-setting profit as the company is making right now, they aren't quite that clever.
The reason that it matters if this was a work or not, and since it probably wasn't, it translates to a situation where management doesn't know exactly what to do with Killings next. Aside from the fact that he will continue to get a solid paycheck from the WWE, from a storyline perspective, Killings wasn't in the plans for the office beyond when he was pinned by Jeff Cobb on Smackdown a few weeks ago. John Cena's current storyline is literally based on a limited number of dates, and it's a safe bet that his retirement tour was carefully mapped out prior to this so is there a spot for another bout with R-Truth before Cena retires?
If not, it's going to be important for the office to find something of importance for Killings to do to be able to capitalize on the current momentum that he has from the surge of fan support. On Raw, we saw Killings not only cut a serious promo, but also cut his hair, which could be an indication that he wants to use this opportunity to start a fresh chapter, which makes sense if he wants to cover some new ground before he retires. Realistically, Killings probably has another two years in the ring so it makes sense for him to try to maximize his last major run as an in-ring performer.
There's an argument to be made that Killings could have a short run as champion, especially if it would involve John Cena, but that would unintentionally takeaway from Cody's quest to regain the belt before Cena leaves the company so it's doubtful that the office would deviate from that path. All things considered, they shouldn't stray from that plan, either. Don't get me wrong, it would be a sincerely nice moment that the fans would rally behind if Killings won the belt as somewhat of a coronation of his career, but as mentioned, he has at most, two years as an in-ring talent left, whereas Cody's role as the top star in the company should be planned for at least the next five years.
The biggest takeaway from this story isn't necessarily that the audience's reaction brought someone back to the company, Matt Hardy got rehired based on chants from the crowd, but rather the span of time that the office reacted to it. Traditionally, management, specifically under Vince, would force their plans onto television regardless of how panned it was from the fans. It took months for Matt Hardy to be re-hired, and it took months of the audience hijacking the shows for Daniel Bryan to get a chance to win the championship at Wrestlemania. Granted, the organization can't let the audience dictate everything, but the flexibility to change course to fix a mistake could be an indication of a new philosophy for the organization.
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