R-Truth will allow his body to dictate when he should retire.
R-Truth is currently 52 years old, and he is still an active WWE Superstar. While it can sometimes seem like Truth has acquired the direct coordinates to the fountain of youth, Father Time is undefeated. Eventually, the winningest WWE 24/7 Champion in history will have to retire.
Speaking about potential retirement during a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, Truth reflected on the injury he suffered in 2023 that led to him struggling with an MRSA infection, almost leading to amputation and the end of his career.
"At one point I thought it was [the end], because it was when I caught the infection. A lot of people thought I just tore my quad. I did tear the quad tendon, but a couple of weeks out, when I go to get the stitches out it wasn't healing. That's when they found out I had five different bacteria like staph, MRSA, their cousins, kinfolks and relatives. Yeah, it was bad," he said. "It was so bad the doctor wouldn't even give me a high five. I know it sounds crazy, I want a high five with the doctor. He's like you don't have time for high fives, this is serious. I just went to get my stitches out. He said, 'What are you doing this afternoon?' I said, I'm gonna pick my kids up. He said 'Can somebody else go do it?' I'm like, why? [He said] 'We need to take you to surgery now.' Yeah. So everything went from haha to you better be ready. It was serious.
"There was a chance I could lose my leg. That's how serious it got," he continued. "The infection was that bad that he thought they would have to amputate if they couldn't get it slowed down. I was on antibiotics that was like, it was $4,700 a week for it. I was on the heavy stuff. I had a PICC line for the first 6 weeks. Deep down it was like it might be gone. He told my wife if we don't get this under control we are going to have to think of other options. My wife said what other options? He said amputation. I'm like what the? But that's when I was thinking I may never come back to this, how can I adapt?"
When talking about how much longer he will still be able to go in the ring, he said that, much like Rey Mysterio, he will let his body guide him and let him know when it's time for him to retire. For now, he still believes there's much that the new generation still has yet to see him do.
“I like being in the ring. I think I’m like Rey Mysterio with this right here. I’ll let my body be the guide and be the answer to that. I always listen to my body, always. Right now, man, to be honest, I’ve never felt as healthy as I feel now, clear-minded, clear-headed. Still can do my back flips, still can do my splits. There’s a lot of things that this generation hadn’t even seen me do yet, and I still can do, like you said, just sometime I don’t need to do it. Give me an opportunity, I will go out there and show that oh, sh*t, he could still go.”
Fans can read Rey Mysterio's comments on retirement when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame here.
R-Truth's "childhood hero" John Cena will begin his retirement tour in 2025, starting with the January 6 episode of WWE Raw. Learn more here.
