The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and was originally a World Championship Wrestling title. It was challenged by cruiserweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs.[1] During its tenure in WWE, it was exclusive to the SmackDown! brand.
History
The WWE Cruiserweight Championship was recognized as formerly being the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Light Heavyweight Championship. Following the title's introduction in 1991, a tournament was held to determine the inaugural champion. On October 27, Brian Pillman defeated Richard Morton in the tournament final to win the title. However, when Brad Armstrong was forced to relinquish the title due to injury on September 2, 1992, it became inactive. Then, on March 20, 1996, Shinjiro Otani defeated Wild Pegasus in a decision match to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation purchased World Championship Wrestling. Soon after, "The Invasion" took place, in which The Alliance was ultimately dismantled. Following Survivor Series 2001, the title was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Cruiserweight Championship, replacing the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship.[2].
Following the WWF/WWE name change in 2002, the championship was subsequently referred to as the WWE Cruiserweight Championship and became exclusive to the SmackDown! brand. On September 28, 2007, the title was vacated after the final champion, Hornswoggle, was stripped of the championship by then SmackDown! General manager, Vickie Guerrero. [3]
After a six month absence, on March 3, 2008, WWE removed the championship from the active championship web page, where originally the title was listed as "vacant." Afterward, the title was removed from the active titles list on WWE's title histories web page to the defunct championship list. In this way, the title was quietly retired.[4][5] Although retired, the title has made appearances in all the recent incarnations of the SmackDown vs. Raw video game series as a playable championship, up to and including the 2010 game.
Gregory Helms has had the longest title reign, with 385 days. Chavo Guerrero, Jr. has had the shortest title reign, holding it for only two days. Rey Mysterio has had the most title reigns with 8 in total, 5 of which were with WCW and 3 of which were with WWE. Three women have held the championship; Madusa and Daffney both had reigns with WCW while Jacqueline Moore was the only woman to win the Cruiserweight Championship in its WWE incarnation.
See also
References
External links
This audio file was created from a revision dated 2008-05-28, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (
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