History
The WWE Cruiserweight Championship is recognized as formerly being the WCW Light Heavyweight Championship; a title that was considered separate from the WCW Cruiserweight Championship at the time by WCW. Following the Light Heavyweight 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 The Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit) in a decision match to win what then became known as the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) 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 WWF Cruiserweight Championship, replacing the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship.
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 SmackDown! General manager, Vickie Guerrero.
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.
Gregory Helms has had the longest title reign, with 385 days. Psychosis has had the shortest title reign, holding it for approximately an hour. Rey Mysterio Jr. has had the most title reigns with eight (five reigns in WCW, three in WWE). Three women have held the championship; Madusa and Daffney both had reigns with WCW while Jacqueline Moore is the only female to win the Cruiserweight Championship in its WWE incarnation.
Read more about this topic: WWE Cruiserweight Championship
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