Ronnie Aaron Killings is better known to millions of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) fans as R-Truth, the superstar rapper with a personality as big as his 6’2” 220 pound frame. The former WWE United States Champion and WWE Tag Team Champion (with Kofi Kingston) is returning home (sort of) with his match at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina at WWE Smackdown on May 7. That happens to be my current home town.
The Charlotte, NC native has emerged as one of the more popular wrestlers out there today. He’s also one of the bigger video game players in the WWE, which recently held the first-ever 2K Sports Superstar Challenge in New Jersey as part of WrestleMania 29. He’s been playing wrestling games since the old school arcade machine, WrestleMania.
“I was on those games as soon as they came out man,” said R-Truth. “The graphics back then, you have to think about how many years ago that was. So back then for a wrestling game to come out, the graphics were phenomenal.”
A lot has changed over time since those early arcade days, and R-Truth has been playing games non-stop since then. He said the progression has been “out of this world.”
“Video games back were just the tip of the iceberg,” said R-Truth. “Now you get the whole snowstorm. It’s out of this world with the graphics in the WWE games. They give you so many options of picking your place to wrestle, picking your own arena, designing your own opponent. They have choices from the gear you wear to the color of your eyes to everything. It’s awesome.”
R-Truth, like the other superstars and divas from WWE, doesn’t have to create his own character in WWE 13 or the upcoming WWE 2K14. But he still loves seeing himself virtually.
“The first time I saw myself in a video game I popped a fuse, man,” said R-Truth. “It was surreal and I played myself over and over again, just trying to grasp that feeling.”
All that playing has resulted in him being a “hard opponent to beat” in WWE 13. He even has some advice for gamers who choose his character.
“Take your time and use every special move that I’ve got because I have an arsenal full of them,” said R-Truth, who’s favorite is his corkscrew flying forearm smash.
R-Truth has played against Randy Orton online on WWE 13 and he and tag team partner Kofi Kingston have talked about playing online. But for the most part, if he’s on Xbox Live he’s playing against his son or his son’s friends.
“My son plays online all the time, so I end up playing and beating his friends a lot,” said R-Truth. “I love online gaming because it almost puts you right in the house with them. It’s like being in touch without being there.”
When not playing WWE 13, R-Truth likes to play Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty: Black Ops II and “any kind of action game.” Video games are very popular amongst the wrestlers in WWE.
“A lot of guys bring their video games with them on the road,” said R-Truth. “We spend a lot of our time on the road in hotels. Why not hook the game up and get a good game going?”
The gamers in the WWE are excited about the transition that will occur this year with 2K Sports taking over and launching WWE 2K14 with The Rock on the cover.
“Man, everybody’s ecstatic and waiting for it,” said R-Truth. “It’s like waiting for a cake to get baked, you know. Your mouth is watering, fingers clenched and everybody’s just waiting for it, man, because you just know it’s going to be off the hook.”
With some months to go before the new game launches this fall, the pro wrestler even has some thoughts on what he’d like to see in the first 2K14 game.
“I would like for you to be able to produce your own background music in the video game right there on the soundboard,” said R-Truth, who’s also a rapper. “You could produce your own music and have your own background playing.”
Hear that 2K Sports? They’ve made everything else customizable in the WWE games, so it makes sense.
