The 24/7 Championship Is Actually The Best Thing In WWE Today
The huge YouTube numbers, in as much as they serve as a metric, go some way towards proving that yes, people do want to watch WWE, just not the interminable dross served up on television each week. There's absolutely zero point enduring three hours of drivel - or even tuning in for the final one - just to see an Undertaker promo everybody has already seen. One episode of Raw is largely indistinguishable from the last, names mailmerged in the same old formulas to such an extent that the details are immaterial - and plainly uninteresting. Generally, once two people are aligned in antagonism, you can be certain they'll collide four weeks hence - everything else is simply going through the motions. And therefore, missable.
The 24/7 Championship breaks that mould. It exists for the now, not the future, as perpetual and immediately relevant content which has meaning within the context of the show it's on. It allows WWE to do something they rarely manage with TV these days, and make an individual episode matter in its own right. It also helps to thread an ancillary narrative throughout, breaking up a regimental, compartmentalised format which generally makes programming feel less vibrant than one of John Major's ties.
Whisper it quietly, but it might just hold the key to their current creative malaise. Consider it a practice run.
Of course, we shouldn't get too excited. We know just as soon as any one of these previously unheralded geeks gains prominence through their own volition, they'll be quickly and cruelly eradicated at the hands of clueless if not necessarily vindictive management, if not overexposed ad nauseum. Until then, let's try to enjoy it - and unlike most of WWE's content, the 'try' is de-emphasised.
Perhaps the trick was in introducing the title in such a way that it drew a reaction worse than Nigel Farage doing a turn on Eurovision - from such a ludicrously low bar, the only way was up. For now at least - and admittedly, it's faint praise - the 24/7 Championship has grown to become the best part of WWE TV. Sometimes, it pays to give things a chance.