R-Truth Recalls Working With John Cena in WWE Title Feud, How ‘Little Jimmy’ Was an Accident

– During his appearance on E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness, R-Truth recalled being told that he was working with John Cena in the main event of Capital Punishment in 2011, as well as the origin of the “Little Jimmy” gimmick. Truth faced Cena in the main event of the PPV with the WWE Championship on the line and during that feud, he first referenced “Little Jimmy” to represent the younger John Cena fanbase out there that cheered for him. The whole thing got over with the crowd and became a major part of the angle.

Highlights from the discussion, as well as the full podcast, is below:

On working with Cena at Capitol Punishment: “That was kind of surreal, man. You know, Cena was larger than life at that time. So coming back and them even telling me, ‘Hey, you wanna do something with Cena?,’ I’m like, ‘Really, me with Cena?’ And I was just prepared as much as I could, man. I was hungry and I was ready for it, man. I wasn’t like, overwhelmed to the point where it’s making me nervous. I was just overwhelmed with like, ‘This is what it feels like.’ Just like you did when Road Dogg told you, you know, ‘Once you bleed out, and everybody likes you and this and that, you’ll know when you’re over.’ But it was an overwhelming feeling, man. I was like, ‘You know what? I’m ready for this, I’m ready for this.’ And it was with John. My main thing was just like, not messing up. Just wanting to prove a point that this spot was mine, I was gonna own it.”

On the Little Jimmy angle: “Little Jimmy was an accident, dog. How bout this like, that thing about me smoking and all that? Vince caught me smoking, right? And so I guess to rib me or to get back at me, he had me smoke a cigarette on TV. And it got me over more, ’cause people was like, ‘Oh s**t, he’s cool! He’s smoking a cigarette right now!’ Like, ‘I see you, you’re smoking it! He’s blowing smoke!’ Like in the moment I came out, Vince was like, ‘Okay, they’re cheering for it. I want you to come out and s**t on the people and call them all ‘Little Jimmys,’ all John Cena fans.’ I did that, and I just happened to turn to the side, and bend down and said, ‘Aw, Little Jimmy, all the Little Jimmys out there wanna be like you.’ And from that point on, everybody pointed and said, ‘He’s talking to Little Jimmy!’ I was just talking to my damn self, but if Little Jimmy’s there, then he’s right there, yeah! That’s who I was talking to! And dog, it just blew up from there like, I turn my head to the side, everybody says I’m talking to Little Jimmy’ … Organic, everything in my career has happened because of organic [developments], that’s it.”

On how over the angle got: “There was people, grown people that got kids, that drive cars and pay bills [that] wanted to take a picture with the empty chair, because I told them Little Jimmy was sitting there. I’m not in the seat to judge nobody, but if you wanna take a picture with Little Jimmy, by all means let me snap it. So brother, it’s like — it was contagious, man. Everybody loved Little Jimmy. As of right now, last week, people were talking about Little Jimmy at Raw. I would still get a Little Jimmy chant.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.