Why Did Wrestler R-Truth Get Released From the WWE? Inside the Details
R-Truth, birth name Ronnie Aaron Killings, began his professional wrestling career back in 1998.
Published June 2 2025, 11:18 a.m. ET
Professional wrestling fans are known for being some of the most prominent fans in the sports world, as they are very passionate and become extremely attached to their favorites, and that sentiment includes those who are no longer wrestling, which appears to be the case with WWE star R-Truth.
R-Truth, birth name Ronnie Aaron Killings, began his professional wrestling career back in 1998, wrestling for a number of organizations, including the WWE, NWA, and TNA.
Why did R-Truth get released from the WWE?
On Sunday, June 1, R-Truth shocked his devoted legion of fans with the news that he had been released from the WWE in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
"I'm sorry to inform you all. I just got released from WWE," his message began. "I want to thank WWE for the ride, but MOSTLY I want to thank each and EVERYONE OF YOU who was along for the ride. Thank you for all the love, support, and appreciation you have given me over the years. Thank you."
The champion wrestler didn’t provide any explanation for his departure, but wrestling community insiders are speculating that the surprise decision to cut one of the most popular personalities in the WWE was due to cutbacks.
According to Sports Illustrated, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio offered insight into R-Truth’s departure. “They’re looking at the numbers,” he said.
“They’re looking at how many people they have to cut or how much money they have to cut. And those were the picks. Those were the Levesque picks. And that’s what it is,” he added, referring to former pro wrestler and current WWE Chief Content Officer, Paul "Triple H" Levesque.
Per the outlet, Dave also stated that the cuts to the WWE roster were an effort to bring in new additions from NXT, such as Fraxiom, Roxanne Perez, Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer with more to come. As of now, the WWE has not publicly addressed R-Truth’s departure or the reasoning behind it.
Has there been any controversy behind R-Truth being released?
As fans took to social media to express their shock, disappointment, and anger at the news of R-Truth’s release, Triple H angered them even more with a post on X that appeared to suggest that some drama behind the scenes took place.
Triple H only posted one message on X the entire day on Sunday, and it had nothing to do with R-Truth. Instead, he posted a message of congratulations for new AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo. “Congratulations @vikingo_aaa! The stakes just got higher for #WorldsCollide this Saturday,” his message read.
Fans immediately took notice of the purposeful slight and slammed Triple H for acting as if nothing had happened regarding R-Truth’s departure from the organization he’s been part of for decades.
Per Sports Illustrated, R-Truth joins dozens of other WWE stars who have been released in recent months, including fellow stars Braun Strowman, Shayna Baszler, Dakota Kai, Carmella and Sonya Deville.