Ron Killings, better known as R-Truth within WWE, shockingly announced on Sunday that he would be leaving the company with later clarification coming that WWE was choosing not to renew or resign him to a new deal. PWInsiderelite.com reported that the belief is that Truth has “some time left” on his current contract so he won’t be appearing for any other wrestling promotions until he is free and clear of that.

The report added that when Truth posted his tweet, many wrestlers thought that his account was hacked or that he was playing some sort of June 1 joke as it would have aligned with his character to run an April Fool’s joke three months later. Once it became clear that the departure was legitimate, there was a feeling of “disbelief” amongst talent that WWE would let him go, especially considering his popularity in the locker room as well as how his character could be plugged into multiple different stories or matches.

Some wrestlers commented that “nothing is guaranteed” (in WWE) while another noted that Truth’s exit made them realize that they should try to negotiate a new contract “well in advance” of them hitting free agency (though that hasn’t necessarily stopped WWE from releasing wrestlers in the past). Another topic of uncertainty was whether WWE may look to sign Truth to an Ambassador type contract (as they did with Titus O’Neil) though there is no indication that Truth is looking to retire.

Meanwhile, Fightfulselect.com reported that while many expected Truth to be a “WWE Lifer”, he was contacted over the weekend by a member of WWE’s Talent Relations team and informed that his contract wouldn’t be extended when it expires. He was also told that he wasn’t in “trouble” and did nothing wrong, further confusing wrestlers and Truth himself.

This report added that wrestlers backstage were completely blindsided, shocked and in disbelief with one top star calling it “total nonsense” and another commenting that WWE’s new regime is “ruthless” considering no one ever had a bad thing to say about Truth. For what it’s worth, not surprisingly there was immediate interest from some of the top independent promotions in booking him once his contract is up though no one is yet sure exactly when that may be.