Whenever WWE presents a new concept on Monday Night Raw or SmackDown Live, the idea can almost always be traced back to Vince McMahon. However with the company’s newest championship, that reportedly isn’t the case. WWE had Mick Foley appear on Raw this week to unveil a new championship, the WWE 24/7 Championship, that comes with its own unique set of rules. The title can be won by any wrestler from any WWE roster at any time in any place, similar to how the Hardcore Championship used to operate from 2000-02. Fans seemed supportive of the idea of the championship on social media, though the belt itself was panned for having a lackluster design.
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According to Dave Meltzer via the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the idea for the championship actually came from executives over at USA Network. With ratings hitting record lows in recent weeks, particularly for Raw’s third hour, the network has sent WWE’s creative all “all kinds of ideas” on how to give ratings a boost. Meltzer wrote that while many of the ideas were “terrible,” McMahon knew he had to use at least one of them to appease the network and the 24/7 idea was one of their best.
Since Foley unveiled the title it has already changed hands three times between Titus O’Neil, Robert Roode and R-Truth. Truth managed to go an entire episode of SmackDown Live without losing the championship by dressing in drag, though he was eventually chased out of the arena by a crowd of wrestlers.
As Foley revealed the championship, many fans in attendance started booing the title. Foley speculated backstage in an interview with WWE.com that the fans would’ve rather seen the Hardcore Championship make a comeback (Foley was linked to the title by being its first champion), but later blamed himself for the reaction by saying he cut a bad promo.
“I think the crowd was hoping for the return of the classic Hardcore Title,” Foley wrote in a pair of responses on Twitter. “Thanks for the compliment, but I felt like I came up pretty short on that promo. No one’s fault but my own.”
“Yes, I think the audience will begin enjoying the 24/7 aspect pretty quickly,” he added. “I just wish I had kicked it off with a better promo.”
In his Twitter updates as champion, Truth has consistently confused the title with the defunct European Championship
Been up for 50 somethin hours! Carry the one ☝🏿 #European #247Championship #SDLive #DanceBreak #RunTruthRun pic.twitter.com/G3zUxtzP9Z
— WWE R-Truth (@RonKillings) May 23, 2019
