WWE SmackDown: Can R-Truth Get a Title Match Already?

R-Truth has provided some memorable moments since being drafted to WWE SmackDown this spring. After a main event victory over The Miz on Tuesday, could it be time for Truth to step up the card?

File this under “Things I never thought I’d say about WWE SmackDown“: It’s time for R-Truth to make a leap up the card, and contend for some kind of championship on the brand.

It’s definitely a strange idea, but it really shouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility. After all, Truth won the United States Championship in 2010, and he was one half of the Tag Team Champions with Kofi Kingston in 2012. But much of his WWE career has seen him cast as a non-threatening entity, more suited to comedy than competition.

The really sad part of how Truth has been booked for the majority of his decade-plus in WWE is how much of a contrast it was to his time in TNA, back when it was a part of the NWA. A brief stint in WWE in the late 1990s as “K-Kwik” saw him team with Road Dogg, but after being released he worked TNA under his real name — Ron Killings — and was portrayed as a vicious, sadistic force to be reckoned with.

As Killings, Truth became a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion — to date, he’s the only African-American to hold the prestigious championship. By becoming a legitimate main event talent with TNA, Truth should have had enough buzz surrounding him that, even after faltering late in his TNA run, WWE should have used him in a more serious role.

But whether due to R-Truth’s natural comedic ability, or WWE’s longstanding institutionalized racism, or any number of reasons, he’s been little more than a buffoon on Raw and SmackDown. From his ill-fated prankster character “Pretty Ricky,” to imagining an invisible child named “Little Jimmy,” to the whole spider thing, not much about R-Truth has screamed “I SWEAR I’M AN ACCOMPLISHED WRESTLER.”

More from Daily DDT

After this week’s WWE SmackDown, though, things could be turning around for Truth. He’s had a weeks-long angle where he’s been trying to earn a championship match by beating Carmella, because that’s how things are done, you know. Even though there was no title match, the angle paid off when Truth encountered Maryse and mistook her for Carmella, which led to the main event match of Truth — with Carmella in his corner — against former Awesome Truth partner The Miz.

And wouldn’t you know, getting a chance to have a non-comedic, legitimate match in a big spot, Truth killed it en route to victory. Yeah, it was a distraction finish, but you can’t tell me that Truth didn’t look every bit like the winner of the match when all was said and done. It should be time to start thinking about throwing R-Truth a bone for all the ridiculous things he’s done over the years, and give him a run with a title before he has to hang up the boots.

It’s easy to forget that Truth is 46 years old, and he missed a bunch of time late last year due to injury. They say a wrestler only has so many matches in their body, and it would be a darn shame if R-Truth couldn’t get at least one true run with some gold before riding off into the sunset.

While I’d love to see him tie up with AJ Styles or Samoa Joe for the WWE Championship, that ship has probably sailed — if it was ever even in port. But why not run R-Truth against Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States Championship? That title has practically fallen off the face of the earth since SummerSlam, and it was a Truth encounter backstage with Nakamura that basically got us to where we’re at now. Let’s pay it off.

Next. 25 Greatest Entrance Themes in WWE History. dark

You may be reading this and think I’m crazy, and you may be right. But if you don’t realize that R-Truth deserves better on WWE SmackDown after what he’s shown in recent weeks, you might be crazy, too.