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Nearly a month and a half ago, WWE unveiled its newest Championship - the 24/7 Title. It was announced that the strap could be defended under 24/7 rules anywhere in the world, like the Hardcore Championship. Within the first two days of its inauguration, it became evident that it was for lower and mid-card talents to get TV time.
Moreover, another possible reason behind the title's creation might be to enhance the social media engagement. Fast forward to the present day, the 24/7 Title and the story-lines revolving around it are among the best parts of WWE programming. The untimely title changes, the fun pursuits, etc. are just some of the reasons why this new Championship has grown on us.
It should be noted that the title is even chased by Superstars who were once at the top, either in WWE or any other noteworthy promotion such as Impact Wrestling.
So, without any further ado, here are 5 former NWA/TNA/Impact World Champions who are now in the 24/7 Title hunt.
#5 R-Truth
It is better to start off the list with the most obvious entry. R-Truth is currently an 8-time 24/7 Champion and has received rave reviews for his entertaining stint so far in the title picture. He is also the longest reigning champion as well, holding the title for the most part during the last one and a half month.
Even the video where he crashed Drake Maverick's wedding to recapture the strap garnered shockingly high views on YouTube. This fact clearly indicates that R-Truth isn't done chasing the title.
However, Truth wasn't always this funny character. In 2002, he joined the then-newly found professional wrestling company TNA. The promotion, at that time, featured the NWA World Title as their top Championship.
R-Truth was a two-time champion there under the name Ron "The Truth" Killings. Not only that, Truth was also the first-ever recognized African-American NWA World Champion. He undoubtedly had one of the best runs of his career there.
#4 Eric Young
Eric Young's WWE main roster run hasn't gone as well as his fans expected it to. He had a major role in NXT as the leader of the chaotic group SAnitY. The group also held the Tag Time Titles in the black and yellow brand under the freebird rule.
Once the group (minus Nikki Cross) was called up to the main roster, all three members got lost in the shuffle. A year later, Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe were sent to NXT and NXT UK respectively. However, Young still remains on the main roster as part of the Raw brand, where he can be sporadically seen chasing the 24/7 Championship.
Eric Young was a prominent part of TNA before joining WWE. He held multiple titles there and had noteworthy feuds. His biggest career highlight however, has to be when he captured the TNA World Championship by defeating Magnus. His arc was similar to that of Daniel Bryan and almost occurred at the same time. He had a decent 2-month reign as the promotion's World Champion and it demonstrated his true potential.
#3 Robert Roode
Seeing Robert Roode in the 24/7 Title picture is quite weird to digest. The Glorious One has been treated as an upper mid-card to a main event talent in almost every promotion he has been a part of. Even his NXT run featured him in the main event scene for the most part.
When he was called up to the main roster, he had a decent stint on Smackdown Live and even captured the US Title at one point. However, he got lost in the shuffle earlier this year after dropping the Raw Tag Team Championship. He is now a regular part of the 24/7 Title picture and even became the second-ever Superstar to capture the strap by pinning Titus O'Neil.
Back in TNA, Roode had a decade-plus stint during which he captured multiple titles, participated in key story-lines, was a part of multiple factions and whatnot! He even won the TNA World Title 2 times and at 256 days, his first reign is still the longest one in the company's history.
#2 EC3
Throughout the course of its history, TNA has been known to sign ex-WWE Superstars and make them the face of the company. With well-established names such as Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy, it was an easy task.
However, the fact that they took Derrick Bateman from WWE (an enhancement talent) and made him one of the company's most charismatic and successful Superstars is beyond imaginable. He was renamed EC3 and right from the get-go, he was put in prominent story-lines. He remained unpinned for multiple months and easily became one of the most credible heels of that time. He is also a former 2-time TNA World Champion.
He resigned with WWE last year and so far, things haven't been going well for the Top One Percenter. His NXT run was quite forgettable, and after a lackluster feud with Dean Ambrose earlier this year, WWE seemingly gave up on him. He is now a prominent part of the 24/7 Title hunt squad and also managed to get one short-lived reign under his belt.
#1 Matt Hardy
Prior to signing with TNA in 2011, the elder Hardy brother had always been looked at as a Tag Team or a mid-card level Superstar at best. However, when he was given creative control over his character in TNA, Matt Hardy proved that he could hang with the best. The Big Money Matt and Broken Brilliance gimmicks were highly entertaining and the former even got him a decent run with the promotion's World Title.
When Matt and Jeff Hardy returned to WWE in 2017, they became the Raw Tag Team Champions right away. After a few setbacks and injuries, the duo reunited earlier this year to once again take over the Tag Team Division. However, Jeff Hardy got injured right after they captured the Smackdown Tag Team Championship.
This caused WWE to reshuffle the plans for the Tag Team division. As for Matt, he soon entered the 24/7 Title Picture. Although he isn't a regular part of the story-lines centered on the Championship, he still pops up time and again in search of the Champion.
