WWE’s newest title is the 24/7 Championship which can trace its lineage back to the Hardcore Championship in that both were contested under the 24/7 rule.
Mick Foley was the inaugural Hardcore champion so he would know what it takes to get a unique title like the 24/7 Championship over.
Foley also introduced the 24/7 Title and thus far the crowd reaction has been tepid. From the design of the title to the belief that WWE is just copying off the Hardcore Title, the fan reaction has been mixed. Foley talked about the WWE Universe’s response to the 24/7 belt when he joined Busted Open Radio.
“The title design was the least of the issues,” admitted Foley. “Look, no matter what you pull out, I was there when Stephanie McMahon and I pulled out the WWE Universal title and the crowd, who needed a rest at that point, they were like five-and-a-half hours into a six-hour show or seven-hour show at SummerSlam a few years ago just spent the rest of the match chanting how the belt was stupid. The only thing stupid about it in their opinion was that it was red, so no matter what you pull out of there, unless it was that old Hardcore title, is going to be met with disinterest.”
The 24/7 title is very gimmicky and, thus far, has been used for comic relief. Foley said that had he known that, he wouldn’t have taken the introduction of the title so serious.
“I wouldn’t have come out with a real serious intent when it is going to be a humorous title. I would have changed a few things, but I will say that I get to pick and choose what I do. I could have declined it, sometimes I don’t decline things because I want to make an impact when I come back and I thought that this was going to give me the chance to do it,” said Foley. “I do believe it is going to catch on. I have to believe that if someone wasn’t entertained by Ron Killings [R-Truth] having a referee in his front car, which is actually my car, that is the news flash, I had to sit around and wait because that was my Cadillac.
“I think it is going to be fun. The truth is we can’t do the things we once did with the Hardcore title. If you call it the Hardcore title and the emphasis is on the imagination and the fun and bringing a lot of guys back into the mix, which I really like, the Hardcore title would hurt that. I think you are going to hear from people who are not happy with it, but you are going to hear from them anyway. I think it is going to be a fun title.”
Foley then recalled memorable matches for the Hardcore title such as Gerald Brisco pinning Crash Holly while he was asleep or when Headbanger Mosh and Crash wrestled in a ball pit at a Chuck-E-Cheese-type place.
“So, I think the writers, and my son [Dewey] is on the team so I think they are going to come up with an imaginative ways of putting people in the mix,” stated Foley. And so looking back, I would have changed the attitude and the cadence a little bit but I would still go out there and [unveil the title]. I still think it is going to be fun, I think that fun has been missing in WWE programming so I think this is going to be really helpful.”
As Foley mentioned, his son Dewey is on the WWE Creative Team. Foley was asked if there are too many writers in WWE and brought up the fact that Dewey first started out as not so much as a writer, but the personal assistant to the VP of Creative Writing, Ed Koskey.
“Given that my son is on the team and I know how hard he works, I had tried to talk to him out of the job,” admitted Foley. “I told him that you are not going to go in there and write the show, you are going to find out what kind of cream Ed Koskey likes in his coffee, and he did. He went through that process with the note taking. It is elaborate note-taking.
“Back in my day, as we say, we had bullet points and we did really good. I still think that, this is what I have said several times that scripted promos may not hurt that night’s promo but once you relieve the wrestlers the need to think for themselves 24/7, I believe it hurts every single promo because the characters are not as authentic to themselves. Sometimes the greatest promos that have ever been delivered were scripted, but I think it was scripted for the guys that were in the groove had hit their stride and had been thinking for themselves for years. I think there is a time and a place for it, but I just don’t think that it is every time and every place and I do think there are too many cooks in the kitchen.”
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