3 Live Kru

3 Live Kru
Stable
Name(s)	2 Live Kru 3 Live Kru 4 Live Kru
Former member(s)	Ron Killings Konnan B.G. James Kip James
Debut	July 2003
Disbanded	December 11, 2005

The3 Live Kru(3LK) was aprofessional wrestlingstableinTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling(TNA). It debuted in July 2003, and was initially a trio consisting ofRon Killings,KonnanandB.G. James.Each member exemplified anethnic stereotype,andrappedas they approached the ring incamouflageclothing.

TheWhite SouthernerJames was dubbed "The Trailer Park Gangsta" or "B-Jizzle". TheAfrican AmericanKillings, already known as "The Truth", was dubbed "The Suntan Superman". TheLatinoKonnan was dubbed "The Magic Stick", hisNew World Order(nWo) nickname "K-Dogg", or sometimes "K-Dizzle."

In November 2005, they aligned withKip James,and began referring to themselves as the4 Live Kru(4LK) before disbanding soon after.

History

Pre-TNA

In theWorld Wrestling Federationin late 2000, Degeneration X finally came to an end following a short feud between Road Dogg (B.G. James) andX-Pac.Afterwards, James was paired with the debutingK-Kwik(Ron Killings) in a short lived hip hop-themed tag team. This was the first instance of James & Killings teaming before the two reunited years later in TNA. James was released in December, and Killings shortly thereafter.

Debut

3LK began as an on-screen entity on June 18, 2003. In the preceding weeks, Konnan, James and Killings appeared together on the pay-per-views in varying combinations, but June 18 was the first time all three appeared together. At first, they did spots where the three of them were made fun of other Total Nonstop Action Wrestling wrestlers and, occasionally, each other. They also began wrestling together as a three-man tandem in dark matches and onTNA Xplosion.Starting on July 16 of that year, they began with a series of vignettes where they all went to the settings of their individual stereotypes. In the first one, the three went to theghetto,where B.G. ended up dressed like apimp.In the second one, they all went to aMexican restaurant,where The Truth ordered orange juice and instead gottequila,proceeding to getdrunk.In the third one, they all went to B.G.'s "home" in a trailer park, where The Truth was lusted over by aDeliverance-inspiredredneck.It was during these vignettes that the term "3 Live Kru" was born.

Titles

3LK is one of the most recognized stables in TNA, and at some points has been its most powerful stable. Killings and James got a shot at theNWA World Tag Team Championshipby winning a four-team/eight-man Gauntlet Match on November 12. On November 19 they facedSimon and Swinger,the team ofSimon DiamondandJohnny Swinger.The match ended with the titles held up after Killings and Swinger double-pinned each other. On November 26, the entire 3LK faced Diamond, Swinger andGlenn Gilbertiin a six-man tag team match for the titles. 3LK ultimately won the match thanks to revenge interference byAmerica's Most Wanted,and became the first team to win the Tag Team titles in a six-man tag team match. 3LK defended the titles using theFreebird Rule,just asTriple Xdid earlier in the year. They beat AMW in their first title defense on December 10. They were ultimately defeated for the titles by Red Shirt Security,Kevin NorthcuttandJoe Legend,on January 28, 2004.

As part of the rap persona, they recorded two songs together. On September 24, 2003, they performed3 Live Kon a TNA pay-per-view. They performed a new song,Beware (The Remix),on January 7, 2004. Both have since been used at different times as their entrance music.

3LK continue to make an impact in TNA throughout 2004, with The Truth eventually returning to singles action and going after theNWA World Heavyweight Championship.He won the title in a four-way match on May 19, 2004, over championA.J. Styles,Chris HarrisandRaven.He would lose the title two weeks later toJeff Jarrettin the firstKing of the Mountain matchon June 2. Over the next few months, 3LK would feud directly with Jeff Jarrett and his hired guns, the Elite Guard (Shawn Hernandez,Chad CollyerandOnyx,assembled by Jarrett specifically to foil the ethnic diversity of 3LK). Their first match inOrlando, FloridaonTNA Impact!was a six-man tag match againstDavid YoungandThe Naturals,Andy Douglas andChase Stevens,on June 11.

3LK would finally come across the Tag Team titles once more atVictory Roadon November 7, when B.G. James and Konnan defeatedBobby RoodeandEric YoungofTeam Canada.They would lose the titles back to Roode and Young atTurning Pointon December 5.

The Kru would begin 2005 with a feud withShazarian,Michael ShaneandFrankie Kazarian,which embroiledTNA Impact!analystJeff Hammond.B.G. James and Jeff Hammond would beat Shazarian in a tag-team match atAgainst All Oddson February 13, a humiliation which would help precipitate Shazarian's ultimate breakup.

Kip James

The group suffered some turmoil during 2005. Soon afterBilly Gunnsigned with TNA initially as "The Outlaw", he started targeting B.G., hisformer tag-team partnerin theWWF,and began a campaign ofsabotageagainst the 3LK. This first led to The Outlaw and B.G. James being on opposite sides of the Lethal Lockdown atLockdownon April 24, with The Outlaw on Jeff Jarrett's team, and B.G. on the team ofDiamond Dallas Pageas their "mystery partner" to replace an injuredKevin Nash.The two avoided confronting each other, but Page's team won the match ultimately.

The next month, B.G. James asked Diamond Dallas Page to tag with him against their respective foes, The Outlaw andMonty BrownatHard Justiceon May 15. B.G. however continued his unwillingness to come to blows with The Outlaw as "travel problems" led to him not arriving in time for the match. The Truth took his place, but he and Page lost the match when Page was Pounced by Brown.

By this time, Konnan was beginning to distrust B.G. to the point of not even recognizing him as a member of 3LK. Ron Killings, however, still trusted B.G. AtSlammiversaryon June 19, B.G. James promised his 3LK teammates that he would prove his loyalties. After The Truth's solo match with The Outlaw, which Killings won, The Outlaw tried to hit Truth with a steel chair. B.G. took the chair from The Outlaw, but refused to strike his former tag-team partner once more. Konnan ultimately ran The Outlaw off. Later, Konnan and B.G. James took on America's Most Wanted. They lost when Konnan was distracted by The Outlaw, causing B.G. James to not be able to tag out and get pinned after a Hart Attack. B.G. James was upset that Konnan had let The Outlaw get to him so badly, and left the Impact! Zone alone.

B.G. James stopped appearing alongside Konnan and The Truth for the next few months. However, he also refused The Outlaw's advances, despite Outlaw's changing his name to Kip James in brotherhood with B.G. atNo Surrender 2005on July 17. Kip James and Monty Brown beat Konnan and The Truth there, and B.G. finally appeared at the end of the match. Kip James gave B.G. an opportunity to join with him by hitting The Truth with a chair, but he refused to do it. The Truth saw that as hope that B.G. could be talked back into the Kru, but Konnan had long since given up, calling himself and Killings the "2Live Kru".

AtSacrificeon August 14, Truth and Konnan faced Kip James and The Alpha Male once more. On the July 29, 2005, episode ofTNA Impact!,TNA Director of AuthorityLarry Zbyszko,citing fear from the referee team in the face of Kip and Monty's intentional targeting of them, named B.G. James the special guest referee for the match. B.G. proved his allegiance to 3LK after two months of silence, making his decision loud and clear when he stopped Kip from using a steel chair, then attacked Kip himself. Konnan got the pin, and 3 Live Kru reunited and celebrated together after the match.

Return

In the 2005Chris CandidoMemorial Tag Team Tournament where tag teams are formed by pairing a veteran wrestler with a rookie, a quarterfinal match pitted B.G. James withCassidy Rileyagainst Ron Killings andSonjay Dutton the August 19, 2005, episode ofTNA Impact!Eventually B.G and The Truth ended up facing each other in the ring, but they refused to fight, drawing the ire of their respective partners. Ultimately B.G. hit Cassidy with the Pumphandle Drop after Cassidy, an admirer ofRaven,used one of Raven's moves on The Truth. This allowed Sonjay to hit the Hindu Press and get the pin for the victory, advancing with The Truth to the semifinals. B.G. did not seem too upset to lose the match, and celebrated with Ron and Sonjay. Konnan also participated in the tournament, teamed withLance Hoyt,but both remaining 3LK teams were eliminated in the semifinals. The full tandem won a match againstThe Diamonds in the RoughatUnbreakableon September 11.

In the weeks beforeBound for Glory,Kip James again came to the rescue of B.G. James in situations with Team Canada, suffering the ire of Konnan in the process. He offered his protection (to neutralize D'Amore in particular, in his own words) to the group at BFG, but Konnan thought it was a bad idea. 3LK lost their match with Team Canada, but Kip James made the save when Team Canada beat down 3LK after the match. Team Canada held Konnan, expecting Kip to hit him with a steel chair. Instead, Kip proceeded to lay out members of Team Canada, saving Konnan instead. Later that night, after being eliminated from the 10-man Gauntlet Match to determineJeff Jarrett's opponent for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, Kip would save The Truth from elimination twice before being restrained by the referees.

3LK came to the rescue ofRhinoafter he beat Jarrett for the title at the end of Bound for Glory. Kip James refereed aHockey Stick Fightbetween 3LK and Team Canada atGenesison November 13 and called the match fairly. 3LK won the match.

4 Live Kru

On the November 26 episode ofImpact!,B.G. brought Kip and the 3LK to the ring, and asked the Truth and Konnan to give Kip James a yes/no vote to be accepted into the group. After B.G. got heated with Konnan, both gave Kip "yes" votes, and the "4 Live Kru" was born. That night, Kip James had a fight withNWA World Heavyweight ChampionJeff Jarrett,and almost won before the usual interference tipped the match in Jarrett's favor.

On December 3, 4LK gave an interview toTerry Tayloralong with BG's father,"Bullet" Bob Armstrong.Armstrong opined that 4LK were the chosen ones, and that if they stuck together they could rule TNA.

On December 11 atTurning Point 2005,Konnan hit Kip James with a steel chair at the end of their match with Team Canada. He also hit B.G. with the same chair. He offered his companionship to The Truth, but Killings was extremely upset, yelling at Konnan to hit him as well thus ending the team.

Championships and accomplishments

• Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
  • NWA World Heavyweight Championship(1 time)– Killings
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship(2 times)
  • Gauntlet for the Gold(2003– Tag Team)– James and Killings

See also

• The Filthy Animals
• The New Age Outlaws
• Team Pacman