A long and eventful day at WWE in Los Angeles ends with a fairy-tale moment: the league reverses its (supposed?) split with a fan favorite—and lets him decide the main event.
“Anything can happen in the WWF”: The decades-old advertising slogan of the wrestling league now known as WWE has once again proven true.
At the end of an eventful WWE day in Los Angeles, a metropolis currently in the global spotlight for other reasons, the promotion surprised its fans with a memorable comeback at the major event Money in the Bank.
In the main event of the annual spectacle, WWE Champion John Cena and wrestling social media superstar Logan Paul faced World Champion Jey Uso and former titleholder Cody Rhodes.
Cena, the record title holder nearing the end of his career and in an unfamiliar role as arch-villain for several months now, was on the verge of once again securing an unfair points victory over his rival Rhodes when he knocked him down with his title belt.
Before Cena could capitalize on the dirty move, however, a hooded figure appeared on the scene, knocked Cena down, and knocked him out with the belt.
Amid murmurs from the crowd, the person then revealed their identity: it was long-time fan favorite Ron Killings, aka R-Truth, whose WWE career had seemed to be over after 17 years, or 26 years overall. Killings quickly left, while Rhodes took the opportunity to pin Cena with his signature move, Cross Rhodes, putting himself back in the running for the title he had unfairly lost at WrestleMania two months ago.
WWE reverses decision after fan uprising
For those who didn’t hear, just seven days ago it was announced that 53-year-old Killings was leaving his long-time employer. Killings himself spoke of being fired, and media reports said that WWE did not want to renew Killings’ expiring contract – just as Carlito and Valhalla (Sarah Logan) had experienced in recent days.
In the case of Killings, who had only just fought what appeared to be his last match against superstar and fellow wrestler Cena in May, there was a fan revolt: via social media, on TV shows this week and also on Sunday, many fans repeatedly chanted “We want truth!” and demanded that Killings be reinstated.
The league executive “Triple H” Paul Levesque, who has been responsible for personnel and creative decisions since Vince McMahon’s scandalous departure, and the other WWE executives were obviously aware of the vocal campaign – although Levesque himself gave the impression after the show that it had all been part of a master plan.
Triple H: “All part of the show” – Killings: “No work”
At the press conference after the show, Levesque was asked whether Killings should ever have left. Levesque’s response: “I love that question. Did you enjoy the show? It’s all part of the show.”
Levesque suggested that Killings’ departure was a deception from the start and that the league had fooled all fans and professional industry observers. A more pleasant impression than that the higher-ups had failed to recognize how much Killings still meant to the fans and wanted to give the longtime favorite an undeserved cold ending.
Remarkably, Killings himself did not leave it at that: “No work,” he later wrote on X in response to a fan post that assumed the opposite to be true.
One thing is certain: last week showed that WWE fans haven’t had enough of R-Truth – and the league is now capitalizing on this on a large scale: a new fan shirt has already been launched in the official store and is being prominently advertised – conspicuously with Killings’ real name instead of “R-Truth.”
Seth Rollins is Mr. Money in the Bank
Events had already been unfolding rapidly during a long WWE day: In L.A. – currently in the headlines due to protests against a major deportation campaign by the administration of US President (and WWE Hall of Famer) Donald Trump – WWE staged two major events on Saturday.
Before Money in the Bank, the afternoon saw the show When Worlds Collide, which WWE put together with the newly acquired Mexican league AAA: In an outstanding main event, exceptional wrestler El Hijo del Vikingo defended his title against WWE star Chad Gable – who also appeared a few hours later in the title match of Money in the Bank.
As expected, the match went to Seth Rollins for the second time since 2014, who defeated Gable’s masked alter ego El Grande Americano, the Mexican Andrade, LA Knight, and Solo Sikoa.
Rollins’ allies Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed got involved in the match at the end, as did Jacob Fatu and JC Mateo (formerly Jeff Cobb), who are involved in a storyline with Sikoa. While Breakker and Reed helped their master Rollins, US Champion Fatu turned on Sikoa and cost him a possible victory – payback for Sikoa insulting him behind his back on Friday’s SmackDown as a “brainless” henchman, which Fatu had overheard.
