Tuesday’s Hot Clicks: Enes Kanter Held a WWE Championship for 22 Seconds

Enes Kanter may not have won an NBA title yet, but he did win a championship at MSG.

Courtesy of WWE

Finally, a basketball player did something noteworthy at MSG

Enes Kanter may not have won an NBA title yet, but he did win a championship last night. 

The former Knicks big man returned to Madison Square Garden for WWE Raw last night, where he rolled up R-Truth to capture the WWE 24/7 Championship. Truth pinned Kanter immediately to win it back, but that doesn’t change history—Kanter will forever be a former WWE champion.

Kanter got more boos than you’d expect for a former fan favorite, but the reaction was even more hostile when he celebrated his win by unzipping his Knicks-colored sweatsuit to reveal a Boston jersey. 

For the unaware, the 24/7 title is just what it sounds like. The titleholder has to be prepared to defend it at any time, so it changes hands all the time (Kanter’s was the 44th title reign in the belt’s four-month history). It’s a gimmick that WWE uses for comedy. One of the longest running storylines surrounding the belt was with Drake Maverick trying to win it so he and his wife could consummate their marriage. That led to Truth pinning Maverick in a hotel room on a bed covered with rose petals. Fox Sports anchor Rob Stone even took it from Truth.

In an interview after the segment, Kanter was proud to have elicited such a strong reaction from the crowd. 

The belt may be a joke but that’s not to say that Kanter isn’t a worthy champion. He’s a longtime WWE fan and has even trained in the ring a little bit with WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page. He’s also rumored to be dating current WWE wrestler Dana Brooke. 

Future @WWE Hall of Famer 🔥#TurkishDelight 😂 pic.twitter.com/X5w3n2Aw76

— Enes Kanter FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) July 2, 2019

Good job, ESPN

ESPN debuted a new down and distance graphic for Monday Night Football that everyone hated. It made people think there was a flag being thrown on every play. 

It was such a disaster that the network decided to ditch it after just one half. 

No one thought this would be an issue when they discussed it over the summer?

What a finish!

After two duds, the NFL finally gave us a thrilling primetime game. The final minute of Saints-Texans was pure insanity. Just look for yourself.

Quietly, No. 22 for Houston might have lost the game for his team. Why did he touch Ted Ginn down immediately after the catch? If he leaves him alone, the play isn’t over, the clock still runs and the Saints don’t get a chance to use their timeout. 

The best of SI

We’re rolling out the annual list of the top 100 NBA players all week long. ... Why the Red Sox decided to fire Dave Dombrowski. ... Maryland’s offense is humming under former Alabama assistant Mike Locksley.

Around the sports world

The air conditioning in Texas’s visitor’s locker room is broken. ... The NFL told Odell Beckham not to wear his $350,000 watch during games. ... Soccer fans in Sierra Leone attacked a player’s house after he missed a clutch penalty. ... A 61-year-old former Rangers defenseman is going to be on the next season of Survivor. ... Lithuania’s head coach had a spectacular meltdown after a blown call at the FIBA World Cup. 

No love lost

Good to see David Ortiz out and about

"Welcome home, Big Papi!" ❤️ pic.twitter.com/UGR34SECdT

— MLB (@MLB) September 9, 2019

Hopkins looked like he was trying out for WWE

Gruden signed off on that?

He better have insurance

That sounds about right

Whatever that means

I’ve never seen a worse Madden glitch

Why coach football when you can eat cheese balls on the beach?

Nice throw, ump

These Blake Grifin jokes are crass but pretty funny

Buy a lottery ticket

Let it go already

Lost count somewhere past 200 ... but there are undoubtedly thousands of folks here wearing ref shirts.

Saints fans have Reffed Up the Superdome pic.twitter.com/DDy2dJbqyO

— Jeff Nowak (@Jeff_Nowak) September 9, 2019

Urban Meyer breaks down the RPO

He delivers all year long

Finland’s president in the supporters’ section

Not sports

Scientists have discovered that males of a small Australian marsupial species die en masse after intense mating sessions. ... A New York man is accused of stealing almost $90,000 worth of fancy cakes. ... This is what the first planned space hotel looks like. 

I don’t think I’ll ever understand Japan

Jimi Hendrix on a Korean instrument

That’s actually really cool

A good song

Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.