On May 20, 2019, Mick Foley introduced the oddly coloured 24/7 championship to no initial reaction from the crowd. None. Zero. Nada. They couldn’t have been more uninterested. Put simply, WWE had introduced a championship for the jobbers to fight for, but it evolved into something much more as it soon became synonymous with possibly the best comedic wrestler in WWE ever (maybe after Kurt Angle), R-Truth. Truths exploits are described in this article, so if you’re here for that…
This is what you all have been waiting for your entire life. You might just skim through this article but keep in mind someone somewhere in the world actually sat down and went through each and every one of R- Truths glorious 24/7 48/11 7/11 I-95 South European Championship reigns and analyzed all of them. Alright, let’s do this.
1 – May 20, 2019 – May 28, 2020
So this was the first of many to come. Truths his first 24/7 Championship on Raw the night it was unveiled, beating Robert Roode the third ever 24/7 Champion and the first ever to hold it longer than a day at a whopping full 8 days. He held it for over a week believe it or not. He won by pretending to protect Roode from other hungry competitors by providing a haven for Roode in his car’s trunk. However, he took unfair advantage over his vulnerability and Truth smashed The Glorious One’s head on the back of his car before pinning him for a three count.
The next time the 24/7 championship made an appearance was on Smackdown where Truth pinned Maverick on the Shane McMahon appreciation night but he was assaulted by Drew and Elias getting Claymore’d by the Scottish psychopath and getting pinned by Elias. All in all, I would say that this title reign was a pretty eventful one because at the time it was the longest 24/7 Championship reign and had the first successful 24/7 title defence.
2 – May 28, 2019 – June 2, 2019
After Elias won the title, the 24/7 rules were temporarily suspended until later that night when Roman Reigns and R-Truth were scheduled to face Elias and Drew McIntyre in a tag team match which resulted in a victory for the babyfaces when Roman pinned Elias. After the match, Roman Reigns decided to do something that would get him cheered for once and Speared Elias who was abandoned by Drew and Shane. With the then-current, 24/7 Champion down and out, Truth ran over and pinned Elias to become the FIRST EVER TWO-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. Truth would hold the title for four days and was still the only person to last longer than a day as the 24/7 Champion.
On June 2, Jinder Mahal attacked an unsuspecting Truth at a golf course and pinned him using the schoolboy pin to win the title for the first time. This marked the first title change that didn’t take place on T.V as it was posted on the WWE social accounts. The second reign of R-Truth wasn’t as good as his first one because there were no successful defences but at the time the fans got a little idea of what WWE has for R-Truth and by that time we knew what the 24/7 Championship’s place was in the eyes of WWE creative.
3 – June 2, 2019 – June 4, 2019
Only twelve seconds after dropping the 24/7 Championship R-Truth regained his baby back by reciprocating Mahal with a schoolboy pin. This took place at the same golf course as Truth rode away with Carmella in a golf cart after becoming THE FIRST EVER THREE-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION (Yeah I’m gonna do this every single time). However, this reign was shorter than his previous two. On June 4, R-Truth and Elias faced off in a lumberjack match for the 24/7 championship where Elias beat Truth with a knee strike followed by a schoolboy pin (we’ll be seeing a lot more of these) for a three count.
4 – June 2, 2019 – June 6, 2019
After the match where Elias one the title, the lumberjacks bombarded the ring looking to get their hands on the green-strapped belt but Elias evaded all of them but one: R-Truth. Truth chased Elias to under the ring as a referee followed them both. Truth emerged from under the ring apron as the FIRST EVER FOUR-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION.
This was the first time the 24/7 title changed hands off-camera because all three concerned members (the ref, Truth and Elias) were under the ring. R-Truth would not hold onto the belt for long because only two days later in Frankfurt, Germany, Jinder Mahal would take the title from Truth after a surprise pin on the runway. This was the first time that the title had changed hands outside the United States. By this title change, it was well established that Truth and the 24/7 Championship won’t be far away from each other for a long time. This reign cemented Truth with the 24/7 title.
5 – June 6, 2019 – June 18, 2019
Truth never wasted time in getting back the championship and on the plane ride to Saudi Arabia, when the plane was 39,000 feet over the red sea R-Truth pinned a sleeping Jinder Mahal to become the FIRST EVER FIVE-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. This was the first time that the title didn’t change hands on land. Truth held it for a whole of twelve days which was at the time the longest reign in the history of that belt. On June 18, on an episode of Smackdown, Truth was set to tag with Miz to face Drew and Elias in an elimination tag match which he of course lost.
On his way out from the arena, he bumped into an uber driver referee before turning around to see Drake Maverick disguised as Carmella. Maverick was met with an elbow to the jaw but as Truth attempted to escape, he was caught by Drake Maverick’s small arms wrapped around his legs keeping his shoulders down for the three count. During this reign Truth also evaded an elevator full of competitors by talking his way out.
6 – June 20, 2019 – June 24, 2019
This is the one most of you will very clearly remember. So Drake Maverick got married to Renee Michelle, and the ceremony was broadcasted on WWE’s social media accounts. The wedding was, well, eventful to say the least. As Drake walked down the aisle with his wife, he was blocked by none other than a referee. There at every wedding, you just have to look for them. Anyways, Drake was stopped right in his path before being rolled up by a sneaky R-Truth from behind for the three count making R-Truth the FIRST EVER SIX-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. Truth stormed out of the wedding with Drake chasing him. During this reign, Truth would have a successful defence against Drake Maverick after Maverick begged for a rematch on Miz T.V. Truth would then constantly find himself being chased by multiple wrestlers later that when Truth was chased to the ring interrupting a match between Mojo Rawley and Heath Slater where he was put down by a jumping neckbreaker from Heath Slater for a three count.
7 – June 24, 2019 – June 24, 2019
Twenty-two seconds after staying down for the three count, Truth found Slater to be wound up back in the ring after evading multiple wrestlers and he seized that opportunity by hitting Slater with the Lie Detector and pinning him to become the FIRST EVER SEVEN-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. However, this reign might possibly be Truths shortest reign ever as the 24/7 champion because just thirteen seconds later, Cedric Alexander cut short Truths celebration with a Lumbar Check and a quick pin. Cedric didn’t hold it for long either as his head was driven into the ground by a fresh EC3 soon after for a three-count right outside the ring.
8 – June 24, 2019 – July 1, 2019
Just as the realization set in that EC3 had been reduced to such a low spot in the card, Carmella snuck up behind and stole the 24/7 belt. EC3 chased Carmella to the top of the ramp where Truth capitalized on the distraction and rolled up EC3 to become the FIRST EVER EIGHT-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION, running off backstage with Carmella bringing the 24/7 segment of that Raw to a close. This was the first time ever that Truth didn’t regain the title from the person he lost it to as the title changed hands from Cedric Alexander to EC3 before returning to its rightful owner.
A week later, Maverick was on his way home with Renee when an army of wrestlers rushed past him. Confused, Maverick looked around to speculate when he found a panting R-Truth with that ugly green strap. Drake convinced Truth that he wasn’t going to go after the belt to get Truth to let his guard down and then smashed his suitcase flat across Truths back and then pinned him for a three-count even though R-Truths left shoulder was up. Go check it out on YouTube. Type in “Drake Maverick reclaims the 24/7 Championship” and watch the video. These refs in the 24/7 title segments need to up their game. By this point, it had become very clear that Maverick was going to be in the 24/7 title picture for a while.
9 – July 15, 2019 – July 22, 2019
Drake Maverick held the title for two whole weeks, dang that’s a long time. I just realized that this article is slowly becoming about the 24/7 title history rather than only focusing on Truths reigns. Anyways, this title change was also quite memorable. So Drake Maverick was on his honeymoon and he had booked a room in a nearby hotel for his wife and himself. However, Truth wasn’t far off as he bribed the receptionist to reveal information of where “Mr. and Mrs. 24/7 Champion” would be spending the night. As Maverick and Michelle were getting comfortable, their champagne arrived and guess who arrived with it? A referee and R-Truth hid under the table. Truth went for a pin on Maverick but it was only a two count. The 24/7 Championship was successfully defended for the third time ever.
However, Truth tried again, this time hooking both legs for leverage and succeeded on his second attempt becoming the FIRST EVER NINE-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION, leaving Michelle screaming as the Mavericks’ honeymoon was ruined. Truth kept the title safe for another week where on the Raw Reunion episode Drake got back his title by using his wife as a distraction backstage and then things got weird. I’m not going to discuss that in detail because I’m trying to keep this article about R-Truth only but well Pat Patterson won it, then Jerry Briscoe betrayed him for the title only to be kneed in the nuts by Kelly Kelly who became the first-ever female to hold the title. So Kelly Kelly was beaten up and pinned by Candice Michelle who was then submitted by Alundra Blayze and then she sold it to Ted Dibiase. Does that work? Can the title change hands that way? Can you sell the title? Is Alundra Blayze very much still the 24/7 Champion. Well if she is then I could stop writing this article right now but I guess I still have another 32 R-Truth reigns to cover.
10 – July 22, 2019 – July 29, 2019
So by the end of the Reunion Raw episode, Drake Maverick looked like he was going to be the last one to hold the belt on that night but just as Maverick was escaping in his limo he was stopped in his tracks by none other than our favourite comedy act in wrestling: R-Truth. Truth rolled him up on flat concrete to become the FIRST EVER TEN-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. The next week, the 24/7 title was defended in a mixed tag team match between R-Truth and Carmella on one side and Maverick and Renee Michelle on the other.
The title was successfully retained in that bout, however, after the match was over, Truth found himself surrounded by around fifteen people who at the same time pinned him with Mike Kanellis emerging from that pile with the title after the three count. When Mike reached backstage, his pregnant wife Maria forced him to lie down for the three count. Mike would regain it next week during Maria’s OB-GYN appointment as he hugged/pinned her as the nurse made the count. That was truly something.
11 – August 5, 2019 – August 12, 2019
As Mike left the examination room, he was faced with a wig-wearing pregnant R-Truth who took advantage of Mike’s generic babyface innocence and pinned him to become the FIRST EVER ELEVEN-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. A week later Truth was forced to interrupt a match between The Revival and Lucha House Party because he was being chased by multiple wrestlers. That led to The Revival wrecking Truth to become the first-ever co-24/7 champions. Both Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder held the title at the same time which was quite confusing that left me with a lot of questions. I hope I can get my hands on the 24/7 rulebook.
12 – August 12, 2019 – August 12, 2019
Now when Truth was pinned, the tag team match between Lucha House Party and The Revival was still going on so as Kalisto wrecked Scott Dawson, Carmella dragged a deadweight on Truth so he could become the FIRST EVER TWELVE-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION but the night wasn’t over for Truth yet. His celebrations backstage were cut short with a guitar to his back by Elias. Yep. He returned to the 24/7 title picture by pinning truth on the same night to win back what he lost about two and a half months ago. This was a short reign for Truth but not the shortest one.
13 – August 23, 2019 – August 23, 2019
This one took place at FOX’s Founders Day event during Elias’ music performance. He was interrupted by Drake Maverick who demanded to get on stage but was being held back by security. This gave R-Truth enough time to sneak up behind Elias and roll him up as a referee ran in from the crowd to count the three crowning R-Truth as the FIRST EVER THIRTEEN-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION as the crowd in attendance cheered in confusion. On the same day, Truth bumped into the FOX Sports host Rob Stone who took advantage of Truth tripping and pinned him by hooking both of his legs and there you have it, folks. Rob Stone became the first non-wrestling personality to hold the 24/7 championship. I don’t understand what’s so special about that belt.
14 – September 3, 2019 – September 9, 2019
On the September 3 episode of Smackdown the 24/7 Championship changed hands multiple times but just as Maverick thought he was going to escape with the belt Truth revealed himself by taking off his King disguise and pinned Maverick to become the FIRST EVER FOURTEEN-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION and then six days later he dropped it on Main Event. Main Event as in the show where WWE has exhibition matches of wrestlers who are extremely underutilised and WWE has no idea what to do with them. That week, Main Event was taking place at MSG where Boston Celtics centre Enes Kanter shoved Truth and pinned him. Yeah, apparently the shove is a finisher that works. So yeah, that happened. Enes Kanter became the 24/7 champion and even flexed his Celtics jersey to a storm of boos from the crowd. Best heel in the business.
15 – September 9, 2019 – September 16, 2019
So of course Truth wasn’t going to stay down for long after a shove as he rolled up Enes Kanter (The best heel ever in professional wrestling) and pinned him to become the FIRST EVER FIFTEEN-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. Now it’s time to discuss my favourite 24/7 title change. Before RAW aired, R-Truth was given a tour of the University of Tennessee by the Devil’s Favourite Demon, The Big Red Monster: Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs. During the tour, Mayor Glenn Jacobs capitalised on the fact that it was his turf and introduced a cop-turned-referee into the mix before pinning an unconscious Truth to add to his long list of achievements which include being an owner of an insurance agency, being a mayor and also a few wrestling belts.
16 – September 16, 2019 – September 20, 2019
Truth didn’t waste any moment as he climbed atop Mayor Glenn Jacobs’ limousine and seized the opportunity to roll him up as he got out, becoming the FIRST EVER 16 TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. This was the last time Kane ever competed in an official wrestling match as he now enjoys retirement as Corporate Kane. Jeez, talk about taking a gimmick too far, and then you guys say kayfabe is dead. Truth dropped the belt to EC3 at a live show in Manila, Philippines while he was celebrating the win of Chad Gable over the former TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Of course, this win was also catalysed by the most devastating move in all of sports entertainment: The surprise roll-up after EC3 sneaked into the ring.
17 – September 20, 2019 – September 21, 2019
Moments later, EC3 was chased back into the ring by R-Truth where he was met with a crushing german suplex from Chad Gable enabling Truth to become the FIRST EVER EIGHTEEN-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. However, EC3 wasn’t done with Truth yet as the next day in Shanghai, China, they did the same thing all over again. I guess that’s what usually happens at live events. Truth was celebrating with Gable, EC3 sneaked in and rolled him up.
18 – September 21, 2019 – September 22, 2019
Later Truth chases him back to the ring into a german suplex from Gable. The only difference was that this time around, Gable wore a referee t-shirt to become the special guest referee to crown Truth as the FIRST EVER SEVENTEEN-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. Okay, so they did the same thing all over again in a live event in Honolulu, Hawaii. Gable beat EC3, EC3 pretends to leave but sneaks back in. 1-2-3, EC3 is the new 24/7 Champion.
19 – September 22, 2019 – September 23, 2019
Ron Killings chased Michael Hunter Hutter back into the ring where Charles Betts slammed him with a german suplex and the counts the pin himself making Killings the FIRST EVER NINETEEN-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. Don’t worry it’s the same guys, I just used shoot names this time around. Finally, the live show saga of the 24/7 championship ended. The next night on Raw, R-Truth got betrayed by the only person he trusted throughout the previous five months.
Carmella expressed her grievances towards the whole 24/7 title picture and how they have constantly been on the run only for her to double-cross Truth and roll him up as he approached her for a hug. After Carmella won her first 24/7 championship, Truth looked impressed and helped her escape the huge batch of wrestlers chasing her. Yeah, so, on Smackdown’s 20th anniversary, Carmella dropped the title to none other than Marshmello. Yep, that Marshmello, but don’t worry, he didn’t hold on to it for long as later that night Truth helped Carmella win back the title.
20 – October 6, 2019 – October 21, 2019
After two weeks away from his baby, Truth finally got his hands back on the belt at Hell in a Cell, the show where the crowd chanted “REFUND” after that terrible Rollins vs Fiend main event. On the pay-per-view, Tamina beat Carmella backstage to get her hands on the hideous belt for the first time only for Truth to later ambush her near the international announce table and pin her to become the FIRST EVER TWENTY-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION.
Truth held on to it for quite a while. On Raw, two weeks later, Truth found himself hiding in a storage space backstage until he felt it was safe to leave. As he got out, he bumped into Samir Singh who proceeded to sing an Indian song in order to distract R-Truth from the other half of The Singh Brothers, Sunil Singh, who crept up behind the 24/7 champ and rolled him up for a three count. The Singh Brothers bhangra-ed away, celebrating their win.
21 – October 31, 2019 – October 31, 2019
Truth didn’t get right back into the chase for the 24/7 Championship as for the first time in five months, Truth competed in a match that was NOT for the 24/7 Championship. He faced off against Buddy Murphy in a failing effort on October 21, on Raw. Less than ten days later, Truth was back in the fray for the 24/7 Championship and on the kickoff show of Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, Truth slid out from under the ring, after The Singh Brothers were eliminated from the battle royal, smashing Samir Singh’s head on the apron and then rolling up Sunil to become the FIRST EVER TWENTY-ONE-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. Later that night, Truth was caught off guard backstage by Samir Singh who pinned Truth to win back the belt for The Singh Brothers.
22 – November 18, 2019 – November 19, 2019
After a lengthy 24/7 Championship reign of nineteen days, The Singh Brothers were challenged to a tornado handicap match by Truth on Raw which resulted in a no contest as all three of the competitors ran backstage where Erick Rowan absolutely battered the brothers. Truth decided best not to go for a pin then as he waited until later that night during Samir Singh’s medical examination when he revealed himself to be the referee before driving Samir’s head into the wall knocking him out for the three count making Truth the FIRST EVER TWENTY-TWO-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. This reign is quite historical as its end saw Michael Giaccio win it from Truth to become the first-ever non-wrestler, non-celebrity 24/7 champion. The title change was posted on WWE’s social media accounts.
23 – November 19, 2019 – December 2, 2019
Giacco’s luck didn’t last long as while he was being offered a WWE contract, Truth stormed into the talent relations office and pinned Giaccio to become the FIRST EVER TWENTY-THREE-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION only to drop it to the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch after Michael Waltrip revealed himself to be the referee as Busch wrapped his arm around Truths leg, pulling his body and shoulders down for the three count. This was also a long reign from Truth spanning across two whole weeks.
24 – December 2, 2019 – December 22, 2019
As expected, Busch’s reign didn’t last so long as later, while Busch was celebrating with his 24/7 belt and his NASCAR Cup Series championship, Truth sneaked up from behind and rolled him up. From that pin emerged the FIRST EVER TWENTY-FOUR-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION: R Truth. Two weeks later on Raw, a new foe for R Truth appeared: Akira Tozawa. Tozawa beat R Truth in a non-championship match in a gauntlet match starting their rivalry. Six days later, Truth was invited to light the “Dwayne The Rock Johnson” Christmas tree. It turned out to be a trap as Akira Tozawa ran across the road to roll up Truth to win his first 24/7 Championship.
25 – December 22, 2019 – December 26, 2019
So an interesting turn of events took place. Santa Claus became the 24/7 Champion. Yep. Santa Claus. On top of that, Truth beat up the poor old man and pinned him on the cold concrete stairs outside Lincoln Center to become the FIRST EVER TWENTY-FIVE-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. Then started another WWE Live saga of the 24/7 Championship. In a live event in New York at Madison Square Garden, Truth faced off against the Singh Brothers in a handicap match which he lost after he was hit with a backbreaker into an elbow drop dropping the belt to Samir Singh. As Samir Singh got up on the top rope to celebrate, he was betrayed by his own brother Sunil Singh who sneaked up from behind and rolled him up for a three count.
26 – December 26, 2019 – December 27, 2019
While the Singh Brothers were in a scuffle, Truth capitalized at the opportunity and pushed Sunil into Samir before pulling out a leverage pin to become the FIRST EVER TWENTY-SIX-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. Next night they did the same thing in Pittsburgh. Truth was set up on the knee of Sunil as Samir elbow dropped him for the win. This time, however, Mike Rome won the belt before Sunil won it back for the Singh Brothers.
27 – December 27, 2019 – December 28, 2019
The Singh Brothers’ celebrations were cut short with Truth running into Sunil as he crashed into his brother and got pulled back down for the pin, making Truth the FIRST EVER TWENTY-SEVEN-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. Next night, WWE held a house-show in Baltimore where the Singh Brothers defeated Truth in a handicap match for the third time in three days before fighting amongst themselves. If house-shows were cannon it could’ve been easily transformed into a Groundhog Day-Esque storyline.
28 – December 28, 2019 – December 29, 2019
Anyways, Truth speared Sunil’s back half-assedly and caused the Singh brothers to do a chest bump. The chest bump, however, was a bit too harsh for Samir as he went flying out of the ring. Sunil, distracted by the horrendous oversell from his brother, didn’t notice Truth run his arm up the 24/7 Champion’s leg and grip it firmly to send him crashing down on the mat for the three count. (Don’t be confused I just explained the same thing more dramatically). With that pinfall, R-Truth became the FIRST EVER TWENTY-EIGHT-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION but you won’t believe what happened next. It was mind-blowing. No one saw what was coming (well technically they didn’t because WWE doesn’t air live shows). R-Truth lost the championship to Samir Singh the next day in Hershey, PA after the flippy boy drove his elbow onto Truths chest to put him down for the three count. Then he lost it to his brother.
29 – December 29, 2019 – December 31, 2019
The two brothers then got into a bit of a pushing contest which was won by Truth who pushed them both and pinned Sunil hence fulfilling his destiny and becoming the FIRST EVER TWENTY-NINE-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. Thank God the live shows ended. On Fox’s New Year’s Eve with Steve Harvey in Madison Square Garden, Mojo Rawley of all people showed up and defeated Truth for the 24/7 Championship as Maria Menounos counted the fall.
30 – December 31, 2019 – January 13, 2020
Moments later, Truth rolled up Rawley as Maria Menounos counted the fall for this one too crowning Truth as the FIRST EVER THIRTY-TIME 24/7 CHAMPION. Truth held onto his baby for a little under two weeks. On Raw, Truth did the famous Brock Lesnar segment hyping up the Rumble but as we all know, he got wrecked by the beast incarnate. As Truth was being helped to the back, Mojo Rawley came running and booted Truth in the head before pinning him on the ramp.