CMLL World Lightweight Championship - History

History

The Championship was created in 2003 after a series of well-received matches between the Southern California team of the Havana Brothers (Rocky Romero, Ricky Reyes and T.J. Perkins working under masks) and the CMLL team of Ricky Marvin, Virus and Volador, Jr.. CMLL Created the Super Lightweight title, a title with an upper limit of 73 kg (160 lb) to bring the spotlight on the smaller, younger wrestlers. CMLL held a Torneo Cibernetico, which included the Havana Brothers, Sangre Azteca, Ricky Marvin, Virus, Volador, Jr. Super Comando, Loco Max, Tigre Blanco, Neutro and Sombra de Plata. In the end Romero won by eliminating Volador, Jr. to become the first champion. A few months later Virus defeated Romero for the title and the Havana Brothers stopped working for CMLL. For almost a year the title was almost invisible, never defended and rarely seen on TV. By the end of 2004 Rocky Romero returned to the promotion, this time without a mask and working under his real name; Romero quickly won the title back from Virus. In 2006 Romero became a three time champion but by mid-2006 he stopped working for CMLL on a regular basis. When Romero returned to CMLL in 2008 he was billed as "Grey Shadow", a masked ring persona, no mention of the CMLL Super Lightweight title was made, but no official announcement of it being vacated was issued either. It was not until months after Romero jumped from CMLL to Asistencia Asesoria y Administracion (AAA) that the title was finally announced as vacated.