WWE 24/7: 20 Wrestlers With The Most Hardcore Title Reigns

WWE's brand new 24/7 Title reimagines an absurd chapter in (hardcore) history...

by Michael Hamflett
Raven Hardcore Champion
WWE

It wasn't just the happenstance of WWE being a short drive away from Mick Foley's Long Island locale that the 'Hardcore Legend' was trotted out onto the post-Money In The Bank Albany, New York-based edition of Monday Night Raw.

Nor was it the fact that, as an all-year-round Santa Claus type, he suits the sack-over-the-shoulder look while decked in festive red. It wasn't even because he's one of the few company legends that can occasionally be trusted to disguise sh*tty news - because, subjectively, this was extremely sh*tty news.

Mick Foley was given the thankless task of introducing a title to make losers like like lame winners, because of the gimmick that gifted the green strap its name. The "24/7" rule was initiated for the long-dead WWE Hardcore Championship in the 2000 during one of the many celebrated reigns of Crash Holly. Original titleholder Foley was given the banged-up belt by Vince McMahon as a condescending gift, but by the time Holly was avoiding wrestlers in soft plays, the joke contradicted long-held received wrestling wisdom by being both funny and money.

It was yet another victory for a mid- and lowercard well serviced by Vince Russo in 1999 and succinctly storyboarded by Chris Kreski the following. It reflected everything the company was once capable of, and almost surely can't replicate 20 years later. But celebrate these absurd reigns now - WWE are almost certain to smash every existing record before this brand new belt is eventually confined to the bin.

20. Jeff Hardy (3)

Jeff Hardy Rob Van Dam
WWE.com

'The Charismatic Enigma' (and the two above him on this list) bumps Tazz from the 20 titleholders here thanks to his time spent with the prize.

A whopping 18 days (including a pay-per-view defense, oddly enough) trumps the ten minutes or so the 'Human Suplex Machine' held it.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say. With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.