Was Little Jimmy as a main eventer silly?

#rtruth #wwe #wrestling #heel
Back in 2011 WWE decided to turn R-Truth heel for one of the few times of his career. It was an interesting choice and some of the ideas behind Little Jimmy were clever and it could have succeeded. But unfortunately there were too many other big storylines happening at the same time. The summer of punk was happening right along side this. After it failed he moved on to have a three month in a tag team with the Mr Miz, the awesome truth.

[@Teddy42O]

When R Truth get inducted into the WWE HOF his speech will be hilarious 😂😂

[@mattycakezzz]

Will Little Jimmy induct him or his childhood hero John Cena?😂

[@pleaseshutup7053]

It will be super serious also

[@ryanmurray4899]

I think it’ll be really wholesome too. Ron Killings is an amazing person dude has worked very hard for many years

[@leonarddillon256]

And make Little Jimmy do the introduction before The Truth makes a hall of fame speech.

[@lfckibbles]

He's gna say something like : thanks for this Oscar, I am so thrilled to be getting my Grammy tonight and appear on the walk of fame with a gold medal around me.

[@phenom504]

R-Truth is very underrated. He’s entertaining, can go in the ring, and is in great shape for his age. Too bad he became too much of a comedy act to be taken seriously

[@dogmd7]

Comedy act was why he was so good in the first place. Nothing wrong with it.

[@LegionofKyle]

Tbh if he gets paid well enough he has the perfect position. Everyone loves him, he is not known for taking big bumps, no one cares if he loses a bunch we are just happy when he wins :)

[@bigjohnsbreakfastlog5819]

@@dogmd7 Because his comedy was stupid.

[@LumpyAdams]

Everything that has ever happened in existence is sO uNderRateD to some jack on youtube.

[@pleaseshutup7053]

@@dogmd7 They made him a comedy act he could do serious also

[@Kramerica962]

R-Truth and Vince being IRL best buddies is still a bizarre thing to imagine but somewhat heart warming none the less. It led to Truth getting a lot of TV time and pretty much a lifetime paycheck from WWE though so eh, good for him.

[@jaygo8917]

Vince loves bucking they eyes dancing blk men

[@pwx13]

It's odd as Vince is really racist

[@billybadass3056]

@Kramerica best buddies or vinnies little pet jester?? there IS a difference you know..... i wouldn't be surprised if when ever R-Truth sees vince, vince has him do something funny so he can laugh..... i TOTALLY wouldn't put it passed ol vinnie mcDBAG to do something like that

[@edwells4769]

@@pwx13 like anyone with more than a two digit IQ

[@ItachIBrolly2]

@@billybadass3056 Whatever helps you sleep at night, AEW mark. If Vince was racist people like Ron Simmons, Rock, etc wouldn't have gotten any kind of decent push or screen time.

[@charles616]

It could've been great, because even at house shows they had Miz and Truth "invade" and get "arrested", and it was a good angle. but then they had to feed Awesome Truth to the Rock and Cena.

[@heathj7794]

also truths wellness policy violation killed him. i loved heel R truth.

[@DasNordlicht91]

@@heathj7794 2011 was a different time than it is now, where cannabis was definitely in violation of WWE's wellness policy, but not so much today.

[@korywilliams1856]

​@@DasNordlicht91Also, the general public didn't know that Truth was suspended. It was kept a secret until Matt Sydal did an interview and said it which in turn pissed HHH off, and that's what eventually led to his release.

[@TophDaGreat]

Heel truth was very compelling at the start but what many don't talk about is how Punk's pipebomb totally buried it. Once that happened, Punk became the hottest thing in wrestling and Truth just slid further down the card.

[@aariesharris7894]

As an avid watcher at the time, that fact has never been lost on me lol. Punks pipe bomb literally happened after Truth went over on Cena

[@cotozapokemon6619]

It was WWE in 2011. Even if they would have the next Stone Cold on their roster they would still bury him to Santino Marella and Kozlov

[@joshuabryant9845]

Tbf Santino actually earned his keep. Dude was hilarious af. Koslov was just bad all around ngl

[@stephenhenderson7179]

3:10 the crowd was chanting "THAT'S ILLEGAL!" not "that's so evil" when R-Truth lights up the cigarette. Illegal to smoke indoors.

[@Markyd123]

Hahahah seems so obvious now

[@stephenhenderson7179]

@@Markyd123 a reply from the Hawk himself... well hit me with a brick!

[@AnsticePalo]

Well... you can legally smoke indoors still IF it is part of a performance. So this would have been perfectly legal. I'm not sure if all states have this but NY allows it and I think CA does too.

[@nOT_sURE08]

I vaguely recall this being in England.

[@extremeking425]

thankfully someone said it

[@AtlanticCoastJoey]

WHEN LITTLE JIMMY COMES MARCHING HOME HURAH, HURAH.

[@bmstyty3549]

R truth dressed as a confederate soldier was one of the most boldest & wildest things wwe ever did on raw I was surprised they was able to get away with this 😭😭😭😭 R truth & CM Punk carried raw in 2011. It’s sad how wwe completely buried him by end of 2011

[@EyeOfTheWatcher]

Vince used the N-word (regardless of the version of it there are some black people that would find that offensive), so it not surprising that nothing would be said about R-Truth wearing a confederate solider outfit (lets be honest the amount of WWE black fan base is relatively small consider the overall black population in the USA). He might had some issues with his family in NC, but at the same time they understand that he is trying to earn a living for him and his family (given what R-Truth was doing before wrestling I think it safe to say that he family would rather for him to be doing bad comedy than out here in the streets robbing drug dealers). R-Truth could have been a main eventer, but he went the comedy root and lasted much longer in the WWE than most people. Given what I know about R-Truth he is a good guy and even help out my brother out in small town in NC when he did not have to. I can still dislike the whole confederate outfit stuff, wearing dresses and some of the other things that he has done, but at the same time R-Truth is more than a WWE character.

[@bmstyty3549]

@@EyeOfTheWatcher your actually wrong more than 25% of wwe viewers are black & their black viewership continues to grow. You can look this up. It still dosent make it right what they did rather they have a small fanbase or not so you can save the excuses. I don’t condone or support anything racist cause I was not raised that way.& truth said in a interview after going to jail he was done with the drug dealing lifestyle that’s why he got into wrestling cause this whole “oh well at least he’s not robbing or selling drugs” he wouldn’t have been doing that anyway if he was in wwe or not cause truth was working in tna before he went back to wwe.

[@chasebeaudin]

I don’t care what anyone says. R truth should have beat John cena for the WWE title in their fued. Dude has insane mic skills AND insane wrestling skills. He is legit so underrated

[@pleaseshutup7053]

No he should have won mitb

[@theonlygoodonehere2259]

I thought for sure r truth was beating cena at capitol punishment when I was younger, was so surprised cena won

[@gerrymcwilliam]

When R Truth snapped on Morrison there was massive potential but sure enough WWE decided to make him the funny crazy man.

[@njoydajourney]

The cigarette part was what ended the push I am sure. It was too edgy!😞

[@rollingthunder8223]

Vince does like seeing a tap dancing black man

[@rollingthunder8223]

​@@njoydajourneyit's a game cigarrette

[@njoydajourney]

@@rollingthunder8223 it was unscripted and got backlash because of PG rating. A waste of an opportunity

[@MenacinglyUnstable02]

​@@njoydajourney The cigarette smoking was scripted. The backlash was from the UK anti-smoking campaign.

[@GleeChan]

I'm sad that I didn't appreciate R-Truth that much back then. I guess when you're focused on the other stories people get left behind. It's only in retrospect that I realized I missed out on a lot with him. The man is so entertaining it's crazy that Santino got pushes but he didn't.

[@TheBuddha337]

Punk and HHH being tag partners is the funniest thing about this video lol

[@Noifsnobutsnococonuts-rj4kk]

R truth > most of the guys vince pushes

[@Azzman2049]

His heel run really was amazing. He felt very real, shades of his tna stuff

[@wweminehead5458]

I loved the little Jimmy angle

[@vonVile]

Do his first WWE run as K-Kwik where he tagged with Road Dogg, which fell apart because of Dogg getting suspended/fired because of drug issues.

[@Markyd123]

I did that for ring of the hawk a couple years back

[@pureo_nikku]

Some of the feuds being so short and not getting the shine is criminal. Truth has proven he has longevity and could have done this at any time in the past 10 years so I don't know why they never decided to utilize him seriously again. He became too good at the comedy sadly. It reminds me of when Mark Henry was set up for a shot at Cena in 2013 - we might not always realize it but a lot of these are really just a short vehicle for Cena and then on to the next. Miz and Truth being overshadowed by Punk was fine, Kevin Nash and Triple H not so much. It was foreshadowed how writing felt about them at each point here but that doesn't stop me being mad at the result. Truth deserved way more than just one match to hold over Cena, and Awesome Truth was what a few months? Has anything been reported saying that Truth getting suspended halted bigger plans for them? They had a shot with a fresh heel who actually makes some sense but once they missed pulling the trigger Punk was getting hot so he was the guy to take it off Cena. I guess the only window for Truth was at Capitol Punishment, Punk was defending the title all fall. Even the distraction of the Rock couldn't help them both beat him to bring up some doubts before Wrestlemania. A silver lining is their angle did fit right in line with the eventual walkout storyline that defined late 2011. Everyone was walking out on HHH so they were proven right in reality. Could they not just win the tag titles at least and have a side main event feud outside of the title picture? Not like Nash needed the spot against Triple H.

[@user-we9xr8tx2m]

14:27 Actually Miz and Truth attacked Triple H in the main event of the PPV, where they attacked the ref. They did it because if he lost that match, he would've been fired from his position as gm of raw. So the reaction was justified

[@killergrooves2438]

I remember this. It was such a breath if fresh air at a time when WWE was painfully boring after Nexus fizzled out. It was shocking to see Truth turn heel and be so good at it. I saw a Raw house show around this time with Truth vs Cena for the title in the main event and they had a great match together. And then after Truth and Cena’s feud we got the Summer of Punk which was amazing as a huge CM Punk fan for several years. Then I moved and had no cable TV for about a year and missed Punk’s babyface run as champion.

[@MikeJr9284]

Heel R-Truth is just as hilarious as baby face R-Truth.

[@justinsupprise917]

This could have been an episode of ring of the hawk “R-Truths heel run in WWE”

[@LuisFelipeFelipe808]

on monday it was really cool, little jimmy imitating john cena for the miz promo

[@misters4022]

2011 was quite the convergance: because all in one year you had Miz, Punk, Truth and even Del Rio who couldve ran it, but the company already commited to the longterm rock/cena story

[@pleaseshutup7053]

Also Christian and hall of pain

[@misters4022]

@@pleaseshutup7053 yup. exactly this was the year to basically to have pulled the plug on super cena, they didnt do it.

[@pleaseshutup7053]

@@misters4022 they ruined Smackdown by giving sheamus the hardcore push. In 2012 Rock and Brock lesnar wrestling with hhh and undertaker now part time so the part time legends dominate all the top spots at the big ppvs. Ever once that there’s really no reason to watch smackdown or raw every week it’s just wait for a legend to show up

[@misters4022]

@@pleaseshutup7053 yup. and honestly to this day decisions like those are why wwe are where they at now...we arent conditioned to take anyone serious after the PG era, new stars are barely born

[@quentinkaasa47]

Punk was champion for over a year. . .

[@TheMC1102]

Could you make a video on Mark Henry's Hall of Pain gimmick?

[@Markyd123]

Yes I will because people been telling me I need to watch that

[@mkdisciple]

Truth in 2011 was def memorable. I think we all remember it and were all low key hoping he was going to beat Cena.

[@dee8171]

Lmao i love how the kid behind his dad started laughing when R truth threw the drink in their face. 😅

[@juckoosaurus]

That confederate lil jimmy promo is genuinely the funniest intentional skits from the pg era lol the fact the crowd was so uncomfortable was proof it worked to the t

[@889654]

Not to mention, the show was in Richmond, Virginia, which was the Confederate capital as R-Truth pointed out.

[@NLaBar]

Truth has been underutilized for years. It’s too late now, as despite still being in insanely great shape, truth is 50+yrs old at this point

[@TheSuperkooz]

so? ric flair and terry funk were still wrestling well into their 60's.

[@EyeOfTheWatcher]

@@TheSuperkooz R-Truth has a different wrestling style than both Flair and Funk, as you notice he has slowed down alot compared to his younger days.

[@ElijahWade01]

As a kid I thought truth and Morrison were going to be the two top guys

[@sjtv1000]

And you were right. I was like 12 at this time, and felt the same way and we were RIGHT. They had such fun & interesting characters at this time but they just kept going back to Cena and…Alberto Del Rio?

[@ElijahWade01]

@@sjtv1000 great characters for sure, I understand not going all the way with Morrison seeing that he simply could not cut a good promo, BUT TRUTH was 1000% ready for a top heel run

[@WWENCAANBACHANNEL]

this was the first major investment as a kid, r truth was the top heel of my childhood

[@Dr_1212]

Yes it was But R-Truth made it work & is cool

[@FaizalKuntz]

Little Jimmy era was the first time I come back to watch WWE and officially become a wrestling fans, I grew up watching R-Truth and The Miz being in the main event. The nostalgia watching this run back is out of this world.

[@VXGaming]

Truth is a treasure.

[@TheRealAhoy]

I loved heel r truth, it was so surprising and worked out well

[@889654]

The best part of R-Truth in the merchandise area was pointing out that Zack Ryder had a t-shirt.

[@EyeOfTheWatcher]

R-Truth always helping out whenever he can.

[@TheBigShotTMD]

I loved Awesome Truth. They had so much chance to swing the momentum in their favor and rejuvenate their careers into something special but they seemed hesitant to really pull the trigger on it and it just kinda fizzled out as a result

[@andreafiorani2412]

Hey Hawk, it could be interesting see the 2015 Eric Rowan solo run after splitting with the Wyatt Family

[@marcohavokkhaos]

I loved Truth in 2011. I didn't like how they made him go face and silly so quickly. I liked his serious run, like his NWA reign in TNA.

[@juelgrace]

Man Awesome Truth was badass. This was one of the few things I thought was real. Especially when they got arrested

[@bigfloridapimp]

I've always been a fan. K Kwik getting rowdy, both the solo and duo version with Road Dogg are still and always will be one of the greatest wrestling themes of all time. I didn't find TNA until 2006, so I missed him being a main event guy winning the title. I was incredibly hype and thought I was finally seeing Ron Killings get a world title run in WWE but they squandered it. That heel turn in Morrison, smoking the cigarette... Classic angle! Should have gotten more out of it than they did

[@LightyKD_]

@Markyd123. Thanks for the memories 👍. My wife and I were in the audience at the RAW episode where Truth appeared in the Confederate uniform. While I'm far far removed from the WWE these days, the Little Jimmy story was way better than I remembered. Thumbs up for the video!

[@St_Brelade]

Yes finally. THis run was so underrated.

[@TheGreatDevlin]

If not for the comedy stuff, I would've swapped him and Mysterio for the random WWE title win in the Summer of Punk. It would totally justify Truth's conspiracy. Having the WWE title for one night would drive him crazy.

[@rollingthunder8223]

Its hard to believe that truth is the first and only black nwa champ

[@TimTE01]

I keep thinking that Ron Simmons was it, but it’s the WCW Championship. That or Bobo Brazil’s unofficial win.

[@ECW5320]

Bearcat Wright was@@TimTE01

[@vonVile]

Tyrus just lost the title to EC3 after holding it for almost 300 days.

[@rollingthunder8223]

@@vonVile from a dead company

[@NoTengoDinero69]

I put R Truth up there with Goldust for best comedic wrestling characters. They were both great in the ring, and have much longer runs than you’d initially think. R Truth showing up RR with a ladder and mistaking it for MitB is one of my favorite gags in recent history. He was also great in the build up and ladder match for the IC title at WM31. Underrated guy that should be an easy HoF guy some day.

[@Lenoh]

1:05 Technically correct, but he HAD challenged for a title shot; R-Truth ( or rather, *_K-Kwik_* ) was in the 2001 Royal Rumble match. So while not "one on one", he's gotten a taste of gold.

[@anonluxor470]

I enjoyed truths heel turn but it got overshadowed by CM punk

[@vincesmith2499]

We never got to see Little Jimmy vs. Pretty Ricky.

[@125henni]

They definitely had truth shucking and jivin

[@jordantatata155]

Crowds saying "thats illegal" as smoking inside public buildings is Illegal in England. Where the event took place. Not thats so evil. Cool video though love your stuff!

[@Vipers_Pit]

The “little jimmy” gimmick should have given R-Truth 1 or 2 WWE title run.

[@markmagician2471]

Little Jimmy had an overall of 99

[@who1718]

This would’ve been a great time to put the belt on him. Even if it was a short time.

[@alazkaalazka6087]

Heel truth goes hard. Underrated gimmick. I’ve always loved it.

[@Gvrb15]

Super cena kills all momentum again.

[@user-ys9fg4ol9s]

I was SO excited to see this from R Truth.. the smoking stuff, the attacks, the Merchandising stuff was great . The Soldier stuff was definitely the change. Such waste. Truth has a great job ,yes, but it's about how the audience feels too. Trying to ride with the Little Jimmy thing and "WWE 'ing" it was a problem. It's the exact reason why Vince didn't get it for his fans. Awesome Truth was good and they SHOULD have won the titles at Night of Champions, but again they were fed to Cena. My excitement in 2011 disappeared again after this ( except for Punk, of course.)

[@thefcw]

The good thing about this is that this lead to probably the two biggest paydays of Ron Killings career. Main eventing Capital Punishment with Cena (and a bunch of house shows before the match) and the big Rock/Cena tag match at Survivor Series.

[@Kacpi55]

Great vid bro, could you take a look at Elias run as Ezekiel? It was pretty fun run

[@silviodante93]

Not going to lie, the R-Truth/Miz union had my interest at it’s early stages.

[@lookingforlove839]

Wwe had a short lived backstage sketch series called southpaw regional wrestling. Can you review it?

[@pleaseshutup7053]

When was that?

[@lookingforlove839]

​@@pleaseshutup7053just type southpaw regional wrestling on KZbin.

[@pleaseshutup7053]

The biggest take away red hot cm punk loses at hell in a cell and then loses at vengeance lmao

[@JM-wq7go]

They were chanting that's illegal when he lit the cigarette, as it was in a UK venue, and smoking inside is against the law here. Funny little thing I remember from that post match fight

[@javis88h]

Here's the thing about Little Jimmy... It was supposed to be a sarcastic barb towards John Cena and his child fans, but everyone treated R Truth like he was a crazy guy talking to an imaginary friend. He was supposed to be an unhinged yet intelligent conspiracy theorist

[@EyeOfTheWatcher]

Correct, as Truth had been poking fun at John Cena in TNA up until he left TNA and came back to the WWE. He even made a diss track against Cena in a car and had a weird face to face in an airport with Cena about it.

[@KazuyaAmon]

Heel truth was the shit

[@fhqwgads5000]

R-Truth is a high ranking officer in my boy stable

[@djpegao]

*ZACK RYDER HAS A T-SHIRT????* I don't know why, but that spot always makes me laugh

[@kovulion7777]

Little Jimmy grew up and got beat by the Miz while doing a promo against La Knight as the invisible Cena!

[@ramses1500]

Hate how it was about hhh during the summer of punk

[@Lightman0359]

You're slipping Hawk: During that Air Boom match, you show Miz hitting the stroke and aggressive ref bumps, yet no calling him a Mini-Slapnuts

[@lbdjthethird1240]

15:12 is a damn fine HHH moment.

[@sjtv1000]

This was the era I was watching WWE as a twelve year old, I remember lovving Cena but loving heel R Truth as well (except for when he beat on John Morrisson because I loved him too) All the characters on the roster at this time were so unique and loveable. Looking back on it now I get why people were frustrated because there were literally so many interesting storylines they could’ve developed that just never ended up happening smh

[@BookofKeys123]

Fallout 4 Preston Garvey vibes. “There’s a problem backstage I’ll mark it on your map!”

[@chriswest8429]

The crowd chanted that’s illegal not evil. I was there in the 02 and it’s illegal to smoke indoors 😊

[@EyeOfTheWatcher]

WWE ended up paying the fines, as he kept doing it while in the UK at other shows.

[@jaxthedisintegrator8096]

3:10 Huh thought they were saying "That's illegal" 😂

[@conradojavier7547]

I wish WWE Make Truth & James Tag Team Chsmpions.

[@bigbossman2162]

Hey hawk a couple recommendations for ROH or was it good can be Issac yankem DDS ( kane) wwe or G.I. bro ( booker T) wcw ?

[@Metsfan1975]

First brick to the gut 🧱

[@ryujigoda3445]

3:14 the fans were saying that illegal to smoke in a indoor arena I remember because I was there at O2 Arena

[@destroyah3086]

This man is the definition of a workhorse, I've kept up with his career when he was Ron truth Killings ( TNA ) this dude is awesome fr

[@Candysushii]

I was like literally 5 when this was occurring

[@texaschainsawmass]

Capitol punishment should be the day r truth become wwe champion but super cena can’t stop winning champion rtruth heel character is a fresh breath with all the chaos storyline in 2010s

[@mitchcolburn1216]

Truth and Ryder both deserved more than what they got from WWE. If anything Punk was the guy who should have been buried given what we know about him now.

[@deathsnitemaresinfullust2269]

A big wish of mine is that they let R-Truth come back as a more serious character that actually gets some kind of mid card title. 😄👍

[@EyeOfTheWatcher]

At this point I believe he is happy at the position he is at, since I believe his second run in WWE has been for over 17 years and still going.

[@travis420auto6669]

R-truth is a national treasure that must be protected at all costs.

[@athanaskozhuharov9700]

Ron is the man, amazing athlete, charisma, great worker. This guy could've been the first African american WWE champion. His Truth promos in 2008 were great and his heel run was unbelievable. He went from guy in a team and midcard to main event threat in one night.

[@marcohavokkhaos]

Unhinged and comedy goofball, Dean Ambrose wwe run, in a nutshell.

[@freshlysqueezed2859]

@3:10 The crowd are chanting that's illegal, because it was a UK show, and he was smoking inside

[@rancidcrawfish]

8:32 Vince loved what he was seeing

[@Joecbg100]

I mean...Truth is very versatile but i fear and this proved it once he sees you as comedy, i mean Vince obviously, you cannot break that mold unless you catch fire like say Kofi. He went to Mania and beat one of the greatest wrestlers for the WWE belt. That's insanity.

[@sklba632]

Just a thought for a "different" Ring of the Hawk, why not do something with Miz back when he was on that MTV show. Probably the perfect amount of content to make a 10-12 minute video.

[@fergonfiction6889]

They were chanting “that’s illegal” referring to smoking indoors

[@troke7120]

“Enough beating around your girls bush” FUCKING SENT ME

[@RWAPicFed]

Can you cover CM Punks run in Collision for ROH?

[@kalebkennedy327]

I wore my "Little Jimmy says" shirt to primary school alot, think I was like 5th grade and got the nickname Little Jimmy from the 6th graders

[@JesusSaves80]

Truth is a great wrestler

[@user-ys9fg4ol9s]

"SPICE" suspension???😂🤣😂

[@FreeFoodforthePoor]

I wonder white the Suntan Superman never got a push from Vinny Mac.

[@georgegoulding7141]

I’m pretty sure the chant when he was smoking was “that’s illegal” as it was in the uk

[@Nessrox444]

He maybe had a chance on Smackdown if he was drafted after his Cena feud. That could have been his best chance because Smackdown was far less crowded than Raw (although Mark Henry was also having a career renaissance so... just right time right place for one of them and not the other). If this happened a year later or a year later + on Smackdown or even a year earlier on Smackdown this would have all been great. 2010 and 2012 Smackdowns were basically creative black holes and needed something fresh (and not Jack Swagger).