How About That Thing?

Professional wrestling was something I thoroughly enjoyed as a kid, and continue to enjoy as an adult. Back then, the war between companies felt like a much bigger deal. Maybe it was because we only had two choices in WWF and WCW. Maybe it was because DVR didn’t exist yet, and most of us didn’t have more than one TV with a VCR and some blank tapes. Hell, maybe it was because wrestlers were actually a lot more memorable back then, compared to everybody basically wanting to be Jeff Hardy, or The Rock, or The Undertaker, or, god forbid, one of those psychopaths from FMW who wrestled in exploding rings with barb wire for ring ropes. Hell, even the most forgettable wrestlers back then are easier to remember than most of the guys WWE, IMPACT, or even AEW are trying to push nowadays.

And when I think of wrestling factions most people probably forgot about, the one that comes to mind immediately is The Truth Commission.

Yes, The Truth Commission. If ever there was a faction that deserved better… Well, I at least would say these guys. People who knew them from the beginning, though, instead of showing up late to the party like I did, would probably beg to differ.

You see, in the very beginning, The Truth Commission was supposed to be a less-than-subtle reference to the South African Apartheid. I am so not making that up, and I can only assume the various sources that have told me this exact thing over the years aren’t lying, either. Professional wrestling has never really gone hand in hand with good taste, but to add insult to injury, The Apartheid was basically over with by the time they decided to go this route. So not only was it a tasteless angle, but it wasn’t even a TIMELY tasteless angle.

But little TJB didn’t know that going in. By the time I was a hardcore wrestling fan, The Truth Commission was going in a different direction. Thanks in large part to this guy.

This man right here was known simply as Jackal. Once he started wearing that forehead jewel, started wearing all black, and started taking to the mic, he ended up becoming the most interesting part of the entire faction. Seriously, this man literally cut promos that basically said nothing, and I was hooked on every word.

And once he became this character, The Truth Commission went from dated tasteless reference, to military cult. And the fact this was the point I came in was probably why I fell in love with this faction.

Oh sure, I loved dudes like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, etc. But in large part because those guys were the main eventers. They took center stage over everything else, and commanded your attention, whether you wanted to give it to them or not. And back then, the WWF knew how to do that.

However, there was just something about The Truth Commission around this point that just enchanted me. So much so, in fact, that two of the three wrestling figures I owned were of Truth Commission members Recon and Kurgan. That’s right, boys and girls, I loved this faction so much that I actually owned Truth Commission action figures. And I didn’t even own them ironically.

So what did The Truth Commission manage to accomplish in their time as a faction? Well… Uh… If it weren’t for these guys, nobody would’ve known who Kurgan was. I guess that’s something. Right?

Yeah, these guys didn’t really get much done in their time together. And while a lot will point at how they got their start being the reason why, others would suggest that another reason for this was the fact they picked a really bad time to be a faction in the WWF.

At this time, the WWF was lousy with factions. You had The Nation of Domination, you had The Disciples of Apocalypse, You had The Hart Foundation, you had the recently formed Degeneration-X… The list goes on. Maybe if the WWF had a trios title to compete for, this might not have been as huge of a problem, but as time has progressed, I know for a fact it’s already hard enough to get creative to care about tag team wrestling as it is.

And so, The Truth Commission disappeared into obscurity. Jackal would go on to manage Kurgan for a while, then The Oddities for about two matches, and then be the man who brought Faarooq and Bradshaw together as one of the WWF’s coolest tag teams. Recon would eventually get repackaged as Bull Bucannon, and tag with The Big Boss Man for a while. Then he’d embarrass himself thoroughly, and be John Cena’s hype man for that brief period of time when we liked John Cena. Kurgan would eventually join up with The Oddities, who went from a traveling freakshow that acted as Jackal’s entourage, to a traveling freakshow that acted as The Insane Clown Posse’s entourage. Not sure what happened to Sniper, off the top of my head.

It sucks that the faction didn’t go anywhere, but sometimes, that’s just how wrestling works. Sometimes, you’re the nuclear hot sensation that’s sweeping the nation, and other times, you’re the dudes occupying space in the midcard while audience members head to the bathroom, or the snack bar, or the murchandise stands. It’s a cruel mistress, this business. But hey, at least they got some time on TV. Even if they never saw so much as a tag title shot, it was more than most guys in their position probably got.