Vince McMahon would have kept departing WWE star, Matt Hardy says

Vince McMahon oversaw WWE's creative direction for four decades before stepping down in 2022 amid allegations of misconduct. According to wrestling legend Matt Hardy, R-Truth would probably have received a new deal had McMahon remained in charge.

On June 1, Truth surprisingly revealed on X that he is set to leave when his contract expires. The 53-year-old's announcement came just a week after he lost to John Cena in a high-profile match at Saturday Night's Main Event.

Hardy said on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy that McMahon would have wanted Truth to stay:

"I mean, it was shocking. You would think with the attitude and mentality he had, I'll go back to this, if Vince was there, I think he would have probably stuck around because Vince was such a big fan, and he was easy to work with. He wasn't difficult. It wasn't a challenge. It was shocking. I was shocked that they didn't re-sign him." [45:22 – 45:42]

It is well known that McMahon and Truth had a good relationship behind the scenes. The two men appeared in a dance segment together on the 1,000th episode of SmackDown on October 16, 2018.

Matt Hardy viewed R-Truth as a "WWE lifer"

From 1999 to 2001, R-Truth performed for World Wrestling Entertainment under the name K-Kwik. After five years in TNA, he returned to WWE in 2008 as R-Truth and became one of the company's most popular comedy characters.

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Before the recent announcement, Matt Hardy expected the 54-time 24/7 Champion to have a job for life:

"I would have thought that R-Truth would have been a WWE lifer at this point. He just liked the gig, he liked what he was doing, and I was very surprised. I was really caught off by it. When you [host Jon Alba] sent me his tweet, it was shocking. It was like, 'Woah.' I didn't expect that to come. That was definitely not on my bingo card, as they say." [45:42 – 46:02]

Truth's final WWE match ended in defeat against JC Mateo on the May 30 episode of SmackDown.

Please credit The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.

About the author

Danny Hart is a journalist who has been reporting on pro wrestling (WWE) at Sportskeeda since 2017. He grew up as a massive fan of football/soccer and wrestling, leading him to pursue a career in sports journalism.

Before assuming his current role, Hart worked as a football writer at Goal.com between 2009 and 2016. He prides himself on writing original content that is fact-based and highly accurate. Hart thoroughly proofreads his work before submitting it and relies only on credible sources for information.

Hart’s favorite pro wrestler is The Undertaker. He admires the 2022 WWE Hall of Famer’s ability to reinvent his character and remain relevant across his decades-long career. If given the keys to WWE’s creative department, he would bring back The Phenom for a farewell bout against AJ Styles in a stadium full of fans. Not only that, but he would love to have the multi-time world champion’s greatest rivals seated at ringside for the spectacle.

When not watching and covering sports, Hart enjoys long-distance running, playing video games, and listening to audiobooks and podcasts.

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Edited by Danny Hart