My Take On 9.12.06: Ron The Truth Killings
Posted by Larry Csonka on 09.12.2006
I dig back into the pre-411 archive for a special look at Ron Killings. In this complete look at his TNA career, we'll see how he was used and if he has a right to want released and if TNA has really missed the boat on him.
Back in early 2004 I was just appearing on the 411-radar. I had gotten the gig to recap the weekly TNA PPV's 2-days after I wrote the below column. I would also go on to recap Impact as it debuted, and eventually take over the 411-Empire. But that's a story we all have heard before and not the point of why we are here today. With the recent reports that Ron Killings has asked for his release from TNA Wrestling, I feel that we should take a look back at his career. We'll do that through a piece I penned over 2-years ago, and then pick things up from there. So sit back and relax as I provide some RetRo Csonka goodness, along with what happened to The Truth.
Originally posted May 24th, 2004 at TWTF.com
Our Champion was born in Atlanta Georgia in 1972. This man had the advantage of being trained by a wrestler know the world over, "The Raging Bull" Manny Fernandez. He debuted on the Indy scene in 1997 as K. Malik Shabaz, but changed his name to the more fitting K-Krush to fit his "hip-hop" roots. He had always been into rap and hip-hop, and was good at it, so the gimmick was a perfect fit. He danced and rapped his way to the ring and impressed Indy audiences around the country both in and out of the ring.
In 1999, after a few good years on the Indy scene, he had caught the attention of then World Wrestling Federation officials, and was given a contract. He was sent to the Memphis Developmental territory to better improve his skills. During that time he captured the NWA Wildeside TV Title as well as the Memphis Championship Southern Heavyweight Title on 2 occasions.
In 2000, he got the call to the big time. He changed his name to K-Kwik, and formed a tag team with the Road Dogg. They even cut their own entrance theme "Getting Rowdy." Things were going well, as Kwik made a few PPV appearances, until the Road Dogg was released due to drug problems. Soon, the creative staff "didn't have anything" for him, and he was reduced to "jobber" status until his release in 2001.
He traveled the Indy's again, and appeared for the now defunct World Wrestling All-Stars promotion on PPV. Then in the spring of 2002 he agreed to wrestle for jerry Jarrett's NWA TNA promotion. At the beginning, he looked to be the basic same character, as he debuted as K-Krush (A name he legally owns the rights to) and went along his business. Then one night, he was really given some promo time. He questioned the promotion, and his treatment. At first, I was not happy as he pulled the "race card." He called the NWA the "Good old boys" club, and he wasn't far off. He demanded attention, and he laid some good beatings on his opponents. He ended a match with a promo and told the NWA "You can't handle the Truth."
With this one phrase, he had really done the one thing he had failed to do thus far, HE CONNECTED! Sure the crowds liked his raps and his dance steps, but with that one phrase, he connected. He dubbed himself "The Truth" and almost preached in his promos. The fans would chant his new name, and would hang on his every word. Then, the NWA representative at the time, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat came to the ring, and told Killings to make his case. That he did, as he convinced Steamboat to give him the chance he had been denied.
On August 7th, 2002 Ron "The Truth" Killing defeated Ken Shamrock and became the first African American NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Considering the number of successful Minorities in "high profile" positions in wrestling, Killings had to be honored. His promos emulated that. He defended again all comers. He defeated, at the time, current X Division Champion Jerry Lynn in a bloody battle, as well as former X Division champion Low Ki in stellar matches. He had the honor of traveling to the NWA's 54th anniversary show, where he defended the Title against Hot Stuff Hernandez.
Then, after 105 days (Aug. 7th- Nov 20th 2002) of holding the NWA Title, he lost the Title to Jeff Jarrett. He had a rematch and lost and was quickly lost in the shuffle. He disappeared from the shows for months, finally returning on March 19, 2003 and attacking Jeff Jarrett. He was still left out of the Title picture, and ended up forming an alliance with Konnan and former tag partner BG James (formerly Road Dogg.) They were know as the 3-Live Krew, and became a hit to the Asylum faithful. They would produce funny backstage segments and eventually capture the NWA Tag Team Titles. After losing them, Ron Killings seemed to get his focus back. He made it known that he wanted his Championship back. 3-Live Krew declared war on Vince Russo and who ever held the NWA Championship. The crowd also seemed to find Killings again. Whenever someone would get a Title shot, the crowd would be outraged and chant "TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH!" They wanted Killings back in the picture; they wanted their Champion back.
With NWA TNA about to embark on the Fox Sports Era, on Wednesday May 19, 2004 Ron "The Truth" Killing defeated then champion AJ Styles, Chris Harris and Raven in a Deadly Draw match to become a 2-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion. This was a shock to almost everyone, because AJ Styles just 28 days prior had ended Jeff Jarrett's 6 month reign. I think the shock came because people expected 2 things: either AJ to have a long run with the belt, or for Jeff Jarrett to come back and defeat him. The only people not in shock were the Asylum faithful, who were overwhelmed with joy as they blew the roof off!
On June 2nd, Ron Killings will defend his World Heavyweight Title against AJ Styles, Raven, Chris Harris and Jeff Jarrett in the first ever "King if the Hill Match." Will he be the "Chosen One" to lead TNA into the Era of National TV? I suppose TNA Executives have a lot to think about before the 2nd of June. Will the wrestling audience view him as Ron "The Truth" Killings, and see him as a much different performer? Or will he be seen as K-Kwik, that guy that used to be with the Road Dogg? As in everything, it is a huge gamble for the little promotion that could.
I know it seems as if I posted more than one question there at the end. But really I didn't, because it all boils down to one. "Can you handle the Truth?"
So that was then. Killings would lose the King of the Mountain match, as Jeff Jarrett regained the NWA World Title. Killings second run as NWA champion was short-lived, as TNA management decided that Jeff Jarrett was the one to lead them onto National TV. What about the Truth? What was to become of him and how would he be used? Let's pick up where I left off over 2-years ago.
Killings wasn't out of the title picture yet, he looked to be the first major challenge to Jarrett during the FSN era. Along with the 3LK at his side, he continued to challenge Jarrett, and on the June 23rd edition of the TNA Weekly PPV series, he seemingly defeated Jarrett for the NWA title. But due to a pre-match stipulation about the guitar, Killings was disqualified and Jarrett kept the title. It looked as if the feud would continue as Killings and the 3LK, with help from Dusty Rhodes and Larry Z would wage war with Jarrett, Ken Shamrock and his elite guard. But on August 18th on the weekly PPV, Killings dropped a match to Monty Brown, and was out of the title picture in favor of TNA's newest acquisition, Jeff Hardy.
Over the next three-months Killings would team with AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy as a "TNA Dream team" of sorts. They were basically unbeatable in any two man combination or when all three tagged together. The weekly PPV era had ended during this time and the promotion was heading to its first monthly PPV Victory Road. Unfortunately for Killings, he wasn't a big part of the promotions plans. Killings found himself in a lackluster "get everyone on the card match" as he teamed with Johnny B. Badd, Erik Watts and Pat Kenney to defeat Kid Kash, Dallas and the Naturals. On 11.07.04, that very same night the 3LK (Konnan and BG James) won the tag team titles from Team Canada members Eric Young and Bobby Roode. Killings and the 3LK as a whole looked to have some new life and direction. They would feud with Team Canada, and on 12.05.04 the 3LK (Killings and BG James) would lose the titles back to Roode and Young, signaling the last gold the 3LK as a group, and Killings would hold in TNA.
Over the next month the 3LK would feud with Shazarian and in the tag division, and even though the 3LK would get the advantage, nothing came as far a stag title shots. But there seemed to be some light for Killings. TNA decided to move him to the X-Division, and hyped that he could be the 2nd man ever to win the TNA Triple-Crown. At Destination X 2005, he entered into the "Elimination-X/Ultimate-X" match against AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper. But unfortunately for Killings he was the first man eliminated, and his X-Division run was over as soon as it began.
Once again it was back to the 3LK and the tag ranks. 3LK would rack up wins over Team Canada, The Naturals and combinations of David Young, Lex Lovette and Buck Quartermain. But come Lockdown, Killings and the 3LK found themselves on the PPV Pre-Show again, and farther away from making an impact. But the next month Killings found himself involved in a feud with the new to TNA "Outlaw." The Outlaw would team with Monty Brown, and face Killings and DDP at Hard Justice. He made it back to PPV, but couldn't get the win. The feud with the Outlaw would continue to Slammiversary, where they would face one on one. In one of Killings most disappointing outing thus far in TNA, he scored the elusive win and looked to be back on track.
It was back to teaming with his brothers in the 3LK, and Killings wanted more of Brown and The Outlaw, who had now changed his name to Kip James. Killings and Konnan lost the match at No Surrender They would get revenge the next month at Sacrifice with BG's help as special referee, but it was becoming apparent that Killing was becoming a backdrop for the Kip James/3LK drama.
The 3LK as a whole was being downplayed. At Unbreakable the 3Lk defeated the Diamonds in the Rough in the opening match. The team seemed to be spinning its wheels as they once again went into a feud with Team Canada. As they moved onto Genesis, the 3LK defeated Team Canada in a Hockey Stick Street Fight with Kip James as referee. The 3LK would become the 4LK and would gain as advisor in Bullet Bob Armstrong. But as soon as things looked like they would pick up, the 4LK was ended as Konnan turned on his team at the aptly names "Turning Point" PPV to close out 2005.
2006 began with the James Gang and Konnan fighting for Killings' allegiance. Killings wanted to be on his own, and moved into a feud with the Canadian Enforcer Bobby Roode. At Final Resolution, Killings would lose when Konnan cost him the match. For the next month Killings would buddy up with random talent for tag matches, but seemed to be in a rut as he had a short losing streak. In a PPV pre-show match at Against All Odds, Killings would defeat Team Canada's A-1.
As March began, Killings looked to be climbing back up the ladder of importance in TNA. He teamed up with Team 3D and Rhino to battle JJ, AMW and Abyss. They would battle in the weeks leading up to Destination-X where they would meet in 8-man war. Ina great match, JJ's team stole the win as Killings ate the pin. Things were not looking good for Killings, but with Sting retuning and wanting to battle JJ, AMW and Scott Steiner in a "War Games" Style match, he needed a team. Killings, Rhino and Styles were all selected as former NWA Champions to team with Sting in Lethal Lockdown. Sting's Dream team won the match, and Killings gained some momentum; or so it seemed.
Mysteriously Killings was absent from TNA TV for the next month and for the next PPV. There was no immediate follow up, and once again Killings lost some of his all-important momentum. He would return to Impact on May 26th and scored a big win over Monty Brown to gain entry into the Slammiversary King of the Mountain Match, and more importantly, a shot at the NWA Title. Ron Killings battled Jarrett, Sting, Abyss and NWA Champion Christian Cage, but just like his first experience in the match, Killings watched Jarrett leave with the NWA title.
After the Slammiversary King of the Mountain match, Killings was once again out of the main event picture. Konnan had gone off on TNA's use of minorities, and named Killings. Killings came out and looked to join with Konnan and the LAX, only to be beat down by the faction. This led to a tag team match at Victory Road. Killings, tagging with Sonjay Dutt were defeated by the LAX. The downward spiral continued as Killings traded victories with "A-1" on Xplosion. They were then put onto the Hard Justice card, as a Pre-Show match where Killings won "the rubber match." The following day at the Impact tapings Ron Killings asked TNA talent relations head Terry Taylor for a release from his contract. Killings has apparently been denied his request as he has appeared on Impact since then, losing to Samoa Joe and Christian Cage.
My Take On:
So there we have it, the complete career retrospective of Ron Killings, focusing on his run with TNA. While he had success early on in TNA, he went from being an alternative guy to the alternative promotion to basically, just another guy. That's the shame of it. Killings connected with crowds, put on good matches, cut good promos and did everything the promotion asked of him. In the end when it looked like he would get his chance, he got passed on; Monty Brown, Jeff Hardy, Rhino, Christian Cage, Abyss, and Samoa Joe. While Killings has always been there, they never fully seemed to have the confidence in him to let him run with the ball. He was old reliable in the freezer, but got passed on for the flavor of the month repeatedly.
The sad thing is that even though he got some play in the Tag Division after his runs near and in the main event, I feel the one thing they never did was let the Truth loose in the X-Division. Killings proved early on in his TNA run that he could work with anyone as in the early days he had stellar matches with Jerry Lynn and Low Ki. Killings has what people have complained that the X-Division doesn't have, character. With Joe, AJ and Daniels out of the division, Killings could have been a big boost to a division that is now looking for an identity. But it didn't happen.
Killings might as well be nicknamed "Yo-Yo" for the amount of time he has been up and down the card. One month he is main event, the next he is jobbing to A1 on Xplosion. The worst part of it all now is the fact that he has done this so many times, that if they did try a main event push again, no one would believe it. They would see him as "The guy that was champion" that is used to give the illusion that things are important, but has no chance in winning; and that is a shame.
I think what this trip down memory lane shows us is that at the end of the day, TNA just didn't know how to handle…"The Truth."
