WWE Rumors: Backstage details on who pitched the 24/7 Championship idea

What's the story?

WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley introduced the company’s latest title, the 24/7 Championship, on the post-Money In The Bank 2019 episode of Monday Night Raw.

According to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, the idea to debut the title was not originally pitched by somebody from within WWE.

In case you didn't know…

From 1998-2002, the Hardcore Championship regularly featured on WWE programming. While it was largely considered a comedy title due to the fact that it could be won at any time, many fans enjoyed the unpredictable nature of the 24/7 rule.

On the latest episode of Raw, Mick Foley introduced the 24/7 Championship – a modern-day PG version of the Hardcore Championship – and invited the Raw roster to fight for it in the middle of the ring, with the first person to grab hold of it becoming the inaugural champion.

After lots of close calls involving Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and No Way Jose, Titus O’Neil picked up the title and officially became the first holder of the 24/7 Championship.

His reign did not last long, as Robert Roode quickly rolled him up on the entrance ramp to win the title, and R-Truth later tricked Roode into hiding in his car before he pinned him to become the third holder of the title.

Truth managed to escape from both Raw and SmackDown Live with the 24/7 Championship, but several Superstars, notably Drake Maverick, have made it their mission to defeat him for it.

The heart of the matter

Dave Meltzer wrote in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required) that the USA Network sent WWE some storyline ideas in an attempt to increase the number of Raw viewers during the third hour of the show.

While most of them were reportedly “terrible”, Meltzer said that Vince McMahon liked the idea of introducing a 24/7 Championship, which is why it debuted last Monday.

"USA Network of late was sending in all kinds of ideas to WWE to bring up the third hour ratings. One person with knowledge of the story said the ideas were all terrible, but the 24/7 idea was the best one and McMahon knew he had to take one of them."

What's next?

Given that the rules of the 24/7 Championship state that it can change hands at any moment, even on social media, nobody knows what will happen next with the new title.

R-Truth has held it for three days, as of the time of writing, but Drake Maverick seems very keen to take it away from him!