List of WWF Light Heavyweight Champions

X-Pac was the final WWF Light Heavyweight Champion.

The WWF Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling cruiserweight championship operated by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Only wrestlers that weighed less than 220 pounds (100 kg), called cruiserweights in professional wrestling, were allowed to challenge for the title. From 1981 to 1995, the WWF had a business partnership with the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), a Mexican lucha libre-based promotion, which resulted in the creation of the Light Heavyweight Championship for the UWA. When the UWA ceased operations in 1995, the WWF lent the title to the Japanese New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) promotion; however, the WWF ended their partnership with NJPW in 1997. As a result of the WWF owning the trademarks to the championship, NJPW returned the title to the WWF. One month later, the WWF began operating the title in the United States.^[1] World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and its assets were acquired by the WWF in March 2001, which included the copyrights to their championships.^[2] The WCW Cruiserweight Championship, a counterpart to the Light Heavyweight Championship, was one of these titles. After acquiring WCW, the WWF used the Cruiserweight Title, among other WCW championships, during The Invasion storyline, which featured former WCW wrestlers feuding with original WWF wrestlers before WCW's purchase. After The Invasion narrative ended in December 2001, the WWF replaced the Light Heavyweight Title with the Cruiserweight Championship, which had the WWF acronym added to its name.^[3] World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the successor of the WWF, operated the Cruiserweight Championship until 2007, when the title was deactivated.^[4]

Title reigns were determined by professional wrestling matches that involved wrestlers in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines or were awarded the title due to scripted circumstances. Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or heroes as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a match or series of matches for the championship.^[5] The title was won in Japan, Mexico, and 11 American states. The first champion to be recognized by the UWA was Perro Aguayo, who won the title in a tournament final in March 1981. Shinjiro Otani was the final champion recognized by the UWA before the title was returned to the WWF; he had won the title in August 1997. Although his reign is unrecognized by the WWF, Ultimo Dragon is the only wrestler to hold a WWF championship and a WCW championship at the same time before WWF's purchase of WCW. The first champion recognized by the WWF was Taka Michinoku, who won the title in a tournament final on December 7, 1997. After winning the championship in August 2001, X-Pac was the final wrestler to have held the title before it was replaced by the Cruiserweight Championship. Aguayo and Villano III held the title the most times, with eight. At 826 days, Villano III's reign from 1984 to 1986 was the longest in the title's history. Aguayo's reign in 1981 is the shortest reign, at eight days. Overall, there were 45 title reigns.

Title history

Key

Reign	The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed
#	Indicates what number the reign is
Event	The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the titles were won
—	Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign

Recognition by the UWA/NJPW

#	Wrestlers	Reign	Date	Days held	Location	Event	Notes
1	Perro Aguayo	1	000000001981-03-26-0000March 26, 1981	7002183000000000000♠183	Shimizu, Japan	House show	Aguayo defeated Gran Hamada in a tournament final for the title.
2	Fishman	1	000000001981-09-25-0000September 25, 1981	7001150000000000000♠15	Los Angeles, CA	House show
3	Perro Aguayo	2	000000001981-10-10-0000October 10, 1981	7000800000000000000♠8	Los Angeles, CA	House show
4	Chris Adams	1	000000001981-10-18-0000October 18, 1981	7001560000000000000♠56	Mexico City, Mexico	House show
5	Perro Aguayo	3	000000001981-12-13-0000December 13, 1981	7002129000000000000♠129	Mexico City, Mexico	House show
6	Gran Hamada	1	000000001982-04-21-0000April 21, 1982	7002130000000000000♠130	Tokyo, Japan	House show
7	Perro Aguayo	4	000000001982-08-29-0000August 29, 1982	7002203000000000000♠203	Mexico City, Mexico	House show
8	Villano III	1	000000001983-03-20-0000March 20, 1983	7002140000000000000♠140	Mexico City, Mexico	House show
9	Perro Aguayo	5	000000001983-08-07-0000August 7, 1983	7002254000000000000♠254	Mexico City, Mexico	House show
10	Gran Hamada	2	000000001984-04-17-0000April 17, 1984	7001330000000000000♠33	Tokyo, Japan	House show
11	Villano III	2	000000001984-05-20-0000May 20, 1984	7002826000000000000♠826	Mexico City, Mexico	House show
12	Fishman	2	000000001986-08-24-0000August 24, 1986	7002122000000000000♠122	Mexico City, Mexico	House show
13	Perro Aguayo	6	000000001986-12-24-0000December 24, 1986	7002130000000000000♠130	Mexico City, Mexico	House show
—	Vacated	—	000000001987-05-03-0000May 3, 1987	—	—	—	The UWA forced Aguayo to relinquish the championship after a title defense against Villano III ended in controversy.^[6]
14	Villano III	3	000000001987-06-17-0000June 17, 1987	7002109000000000000♠109	Mexico City, Mexico	House show	Villano III defeated Perro Aguayo in a rematch for the title.
15	Rambo	1	000000001987-10-04-0000October 4, 1987	7002281000000000000♠281	Mexico City, Mexico	House show
16	Villano III	4	000000001988-07-11-0000July 11, 1988	7002399000000000000♠399	Mexico City, Mexico	House show
17	Sangre Chicana	1	000000001989-08-14-0000August 14, 1989	7001620000000000000♠62	Mexico City, Mexico	House show
18	Perro Aguayo	7	000000001989-10-15-0000October 15, 1989	7001490000000000000♠49	Mexico City, Mexico	House show
19	Sangre Chicana	2	000000001989-12-03-0000December 3, 1989	7002175000000000000♠175	Mexico City, Mexico	House show
20	Villano III	5	000000001990-05-27-0000May 27, 1990	7002280000000000000♠280	Naucalpan, Mexico	House show	^[7]
21	Pegasus Kid	1	000000001991-03-03-0000March 3, 1991	7002560000000000000♠560	Naucalpan, Mexico	House show
22	Villano III	6	000000001992-09-13-0000September 13, 1992	7002110000000000000♠110	Naucalpan, Mexico	House show
23	El Signo	1	000000001993-01-01-0000January 1, 1993	7002563000000000000♠563	Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico	House show
24	Villano III	7	000000001994-07-18-0000July 18, 1994	7002167000000000000♠167	Puebla, Mexico	House show
—	Vacated	—	000000001995-01-01-0000January 1995	—	—	—	After Villano III signed a contract with the PROMELL promotion, he was forced to vacate the championship by the UWA.
25	Aero Flash	1	000000001995-06-16-0000June 16, 1995	7002282000000000000♠282	Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico	House show	Aero Flash won the title in a tournament final.
26	The Great Sasuke	1	000000001996-03-24-0000March 24, 1996	7001900000000000000♠90	Shirakawa, Japan	House show
27	El Samurai	1	000000001996-06-22-0000June 22, 1996	7001430000000000000♠43	Naruko, Japan	House show
28	The Great Sasuke	2	000000001996-08-04-0000August 4, 1996	7001680000000000000♠68	Tokyo, Japan	House show	Championship becomes part of the J-Crown
29	Último Dragón	1	000000001996-10-11-0000October 11, 1996	7001850000000000000♠85	Osaka, Japan	House show
30	Jushin Thunder Liger	1	000000001997-01-04-0000January 4, 1997	7002183000000000000♠183	Tokyo, Japan	Wrestling World
31	El Samurai	2	000000001997-07-06-0000July 6, 1997	7001350000000000000♠35	Sapporo, Japan	House show
32	Shinjiro Otani	1	000000001997-08-10-0000August 10, 1997	7001870000000000000♠87	Nagoya, Japan	House show	On November 5, 1997, the J-Crown was vacated. Otani returned five of the belts except the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Otani was the final wrestler in the UWA to hold the title before it was returned to the WWF.

Recognition by the WWF

#	Wrestlers	Reign	Date	Days held	Location	Event	Notes
33	Taka Michinoku	1	000000001997-12-07-0000December 7, 1997	7002315000000000000♠315	Springfield, MA	In Your House: D-Generation X	Michinoku defeated Brian Christopher in a tournament final to win the title.
34	Christian	1	000000001998-10-18-0000October 18, 1998	7001300000000000000♠30	Chicago, IL	Judgment Day: In Your House
35	Duane Gill / Gillberg	1	000000001998-11-17-0000November 17, 1998	7002453000000000000♠453	Columbus, OH	Raw is War
36	Essa Rios	1	000000002000-02-13-0000February 13, 2000	7001290000000000000♠29	Austin, TX	Sunday Night Heat
37	Dean Malenko	1	000000002000-03-13-0000March 13, 2000	7001350000000000000♠35	East Rutherford, NJ	Raw is War
38	Scotty 2 Hotty	1	000000002000-04-17-0000April 17, 2000	7000800000000000000♠8	State College, PA	Raw is War
39	Dean Malenko	2	000000002000-04-25-0000April 25, 2000	7002322000000000000♠322	Charlotte, NC	SmackDown!	This title change aired on tape delay.
40	Crash Holly	1	000000002001-03-13-0000March 13, 2001	7001470000000000000♠47	Anaheim, CA	Sunday Night Heat
41	Jerry Lynn	1	000000002001-04-29-0000April 29, 2001	7001370000000000000♠37	Chicago, IL	Sunday Night Heat
42	Jeff Hardy	1	000000002001-06-05-0000June 5, 2001	7001200000000000000♠20	Grand Forks, ND	SmackDown!	This title change aired on tape delay.
43	X-Pac	1	000000002001-06-25-0000June 25, 2001	7001420000000000000♠42	New York City, NY	Raw is War
44	Tajiri	1	000000002001-08-06-0000August 6, 2001	7001130000000000000♠13	Anaheim, CA	Raw is War
45	X-Pac	2	000000002001-08-19-0000August 19, 2001	7001910000000000000♠91	San Jose, CA	SummerSlam	X-Pac was the final wrestler to hold the title. A title unification match at Survivor Series between WCW Cruiserweight Champion Tajiri and WWF Light Heavyweight Champion X-Pac was canceled because X-Pac was injured; shortly thereafter the Light Heavyweight Championship became inactive, and the WCW Cruiserweight Championship was rebranded as a WWF title.

List of top combined reigns

Rank	Wrestler	No. of reigns	Combined days
1	Villano III	7	2,031
2	Perro Aguayo	7	956
3	El Signo	1	563
4	The Pegasus Kid	1	560
5	Gillberg	1	453
6	Dean Malenko	2	357
7	Taka Michinoku	1	315
8	Aero Flash	1	282
9	Rambo	1	281
10	Sangre Chicana	2	237
11	Jushin Thunder Liger	1	183
12	Gran Hamada	2	163
13	The Great Sasuke	2	158
14	Fishman	2	137
15	X-Pac	2	133
16	Shinjiro Otani	1	87
17	Último Dragón	1	85
18	El Samurai	2	78
19	Chris Adams	1	56
20	Crash Holly	1	47
21	Jerry Lynn	1	37
22	Christian	1	30
23	Essa Rios	1	29
24	Jeff Hardy	1	20
25	Tajiri	1	13
26	Scotty 2 Hotty	1	8

References

General

"WWF Light Heavyweight Championship reigns by Wrestling Title Histories". Wrestling Title Histories by Royal Duncan & Gary Will. Solie.org. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
"History of the Light Heavyweight Championship". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-13.

Specific

↑ "WWF Light Heavyweight Championship History". Wrestling Title Histories by Royal Duncan and Gary Will. Solie.org. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
↑ "WWE Entertainment, Inc. acquires WCW from Turner Broadcasting". World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. 2001-03-23. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
↑ "WWF LightHeavyweight Championship at WWE.com". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-01. The title was abandoned in 2001 when WWE finally put the WCW/ECW Alliance out of business. WWE then adopted the WCW Cruiserweight Championship as its version of the Cruiserweight Championship.
↑ "WWE Cruiserweight Championship Reigns". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
↑ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
↑ Centinela, Teddy (May 3, 2015). "En un día como hoy… 1987: Perro Aguayo casi pierde la vida en el ring… Última función de El Toreo antes de la muerte de Francisco Flores". SuperLuchas Magazine (in Spanish). Retrieved July 1, 2015.
↑ Centinela, Teddy (May 27, 2015). "En un día como hoy… 1990: Fallece Guillermo Hernández “Lobo Negro”… Villano III recupera el título WWF". SuperLuchas Magazine (in Spanish). Retrieved July 1, 2015.

External links

WWF Light Heavyweight Champions

UWA/NJPW	Perro Aguayo Fishman Chris Adams Gran Hamada Villano III Sangre Chicana Pegasus Kid The Great Sasuke El Samurai Último Dragón Jushin Thunder Liger Shinjiro Otani

WWF	Taka Michinoku Christian Gillberg Essa Rios Dean Malenko Scotty 2 Hotty Crash Holly Jerry Lynn Jeff Hardy X-Pac Tajiri

Former championships in WWE

World	World Martial Arts Heavyweight (reigns) (1978–1985) WCW/World (reigns) (2001) ECW (reigns) (2006–2010) World Heavyweight (reigns) (2002–2013)

Secondary	United States (reigns) (1970–1975) North American Heavyweight (reigns) (1979–1981) International Heavyweight (reigns) (1959–1963, 1982–1985) Canadian (reigns) (1985–1986) European (reigns) (1997–2002)

Tag Team	United States Tag Team (reigns) (1963–1967) International Tag Team (reigns) (1969–1985) Women's Tag Team (reigns) (1983–1989) Intercontinental Tag Team (reigns) (1991) WCW Tag Team (reigns) (2001) World Tag Team (reigns) (1971–2010)

Divisional	Junior Heavyweight (reigns) (1967–1985) Light Heavyweight (reigns) (1981–2001) Cruiserweight (reigns) (2001–2008) Women's (reigns) (1956–2010)

Other	Million Dollar (reigns) (1989–1992, 1995–1996, 2010) Hardcore (reigns) (1998–2002)

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