The Truth Commission
The Truth Commission | |
---|---|
Stable | |
Members | The Commandant[1] Kurrgan the Interrogator[1] Recon[1] Sniper[1] Tank[1] The Jackyl[1] |
Billed from | South Africa[1] |
Debut | 1996[1] |
Disbanded | 1999[1] |
Years active | 1996-1999[1] |
The Truth Commission was a professional wrestling heel stable in the World Wrestling Federation and the United States Wrestling Association. Their gimmick was that they were a white separatist group from South Africa, and their label Truth Commission was a take on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.[1]
History
The Truth Commission debuted in the USWA, where Recon and Kurrgan (then known as The Interrogator) captured the USWA Tag Team Championship and Tank briefly captured the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship.[2] Their manager, the Commandant, was an actor who had met Bret Hart while Hart was filming in South Africa. Hart recommended him to the WWF as a manager for the Truth Commission.
Upon moving to the WWF, the Commandant was later replaced by Commission member The Jackyl because the WWF wanted someone in the role who could participate physically in the matches. Tank departed from the WWF after a couple of matches.[1] The Interrogator changed his name to Kurrgan was pushed as a monster heel while Recon and Sniper competed as a tag team.[1] Incidentally, Jackyl was initially more interested in being a wrestler than the group's manager, but WWF booker Vince McMahon convinced him to cut promos on behalf of the Truth Commission because of his talent for it. Jackyl even fought in a match in a house show as the General losing to Jim Neidhart.[1]
The stable started to fall apart when Jackyl expressed how disappointed he was with Recon and Sniper, who had little success in their matches.[1] During this time Jackyl would pay more attention to Kurrgan's career than Recon and Sniper.[1] He would enter the ring when one or both of them lost a match, berated and slapped them, then ordered the towering Kurrgan to attack them.[1] Eventually, Recon and Sniper formed the team of Armageddon (under their real names of Buchanan and Poirier) but later left the WWF after a couple of matches. [1]They still teamed together as Recon and Sniper to other promotions until disbanding in 1999. Kurrgan remained as part of The Jackyl's new stable, The Oddities.[1] Recon would later return to the WWF as Bull Buchanan, first as a tag team partner of the Big Bossman, then later as a member of Right to Censor. He later teamed up with John Cena until his release from the company in 2003. He would make a final appearance years later as part of a "This is Your Life, John Cena" segment featuring Mick Foley, in which he began by remembering his time as Cena's tag team partner at first fondly, but on an increasingly-sour note until concluding by accusing Cena of ruining his life.
Championships and accomplishments
- USWA Tag Team Championship (3 times) - Recon and Kurrgan[2]
- USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) - Tank[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Cawthon, Graham (2013). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 2: WWF 1990 - 1999. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ASIN B00RWUNSRS.
- ^ a b Duncan, Royal; Gary Will (2006). "(Memphis, Nashville) Memphis: USWA Tag Team Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. pp. 200–202. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/uswa/uswa-uh.html