WWE retires the 24/7 championship

Nikki Cross beat Dana Brooke for WWE’s 24/7 championship on Raw this past Monday (Nov. 7). Then she threw it in... or at least near... the trash.

It looked like the PG Era spin on the Hardcore title would be going away for a while. Based on how WWE.com now lists the 24/7 — with an end date, as the site lists other retired/defunct championships like the European and Light Heavyweight — it appears it could be gone for good.

Introduced by Mick Foley on the May 20, 2019 edition of Raw, the 24/7 title was said to be a concept USA Network suggested to help deal with flagging third hour ratings for WWE’s Monday night show. Fans were quick to mock the idea (and the belt design), but it did prove to be a good vehicle for folks like Drake Maverick, Drew Gulak, Akira Tozawa and especially R-Truth to create comedic wrestling content on television and online.

Some were never happy wrestlers they loved from the independents and cruiserweight scenes were relegated to chasing a gimmick title, however. And any prominent talent like The Revival (now FTR) or Alexa Bliss being booked near the 24/7 scene was seen as a bad sign for their immediate future.

Numerous announcers, legends, celebrities, and even a WWE sales exec held the green-and-gold, but the title will always be synonymous with R-Truth. In addition to being the Superstar who made the most of it, Truth also had the most reigns (53) and the most combined time as champ (415 days). Reginald/Reggie took the division’s mantle for a time, and had the longest single reign at 112 days. Recently, the scene’s rotated around Brooke, and she’s second behind Truth is days with the strap (336) & tied with Tozawa for the second most reigns at 15.

She had a plan for moving the belt away from comedy and into being a women’s secondary title, and wasn’t happy with what Cross did (or was booked to do) on Raw...

... no word on what she thinks of the 24/7’s retirement.

We think it was an idea that had run its course, and especially considering the Triple H regime didn’t seem to have any interest in using it on television, it was time for it to go. It does make us a little sad to think Truth will never get his baby back now, though...

What do you think?