R-Truth has revealed his emotions following his brief departure from WWE in 2025, a situation that sparked widespread fan backlash and led to his return. The veteran star’s journey is now set to be featured on the second season of Netflix’s WWE: Unreal, which is scheduled to premiere on January 20, 2026. Appearing in an interview with Stephen A. Smith while promoting the series, Truth opened up about his feelings during that uncertain period.
“It was numb, Steve. Sometimes we lose and forget who we are. There are people my age and older, their time ain’t up,” Truth said. “I think father time, each individual has its own time when it’s time, and we have time to make something happen within that time. I think everything that happened happened at the right time for me, because as we saw, man, I’m more popular and valuable than I’ve ever been in my life and my career. Over hundreds of millions of people showed and told me that.”
The saga began at the Saturday Night’s Main Event Premium Live Event on May 24, 2025, in Tampa, Florida. Truth faced John Cena in a non-title match, suffering a defeat after Cena utilized a low blow followed by an Attitude Adjustment. Following the event, Truth publicly announced on June 1, 2025, that his WWE contract was expiring and the promotion had opted not to renew it. This news led to a massive wave of fan support under the hashtag #WeWantTruth, with current stars like Rhea Ripley also publicly voicing their sadness over the release.
However, just a week later at Money in the Bank 2025 in Inglewood, California, R-Truth made a shocking return. Sporting a more serious gimmick and using his real name, Ron Killings, he emerged from the crowd to attack John Cena during the main event.
This interference helped Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes defeat the duo of Cena and Logan Paul. WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H later described the situation as “all part of the show,” though reports indicated the new deal was finalized only 72 hours before the event. As of January 2026, R-Truth remains a fixture for WWE fans on the SmackDown brand, though his recent booking has shifted back toward a comedy role. He was recently involved in segments with The Miz and Joe Hendry on the January 2 episode of SmackDown in Buffalo, New York.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Stephen A. Smith with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can watch the full interview with R-Truth on Stephen A. Smith’s official YouTube channel or social media platforms.
Shoutout to @RonKillings for joining the show to talk about returning to the WWE pic.twitter.com/U8KE8Bowo2
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) January 6, 2026
