WWE Cruiserweight Championship

Years Active 1991 — 2007

Promotion WWE

Brand N/A

Total Reigns 79

Total Champions 40

Last Champion Hornswoggle

Longest Reign

Gregory Helms

385 days as the WWE Cruiserweight Champion

Won at Royal Rumble 2006 against Nunzio, Kid Kash, Jamie Noble, Paul London & Funaki on January 29, 2006 and held title until February 18, 2007.

Most Reigns

Longest Reigns

Gregory Helms (385 days)
Tajiri (162 days)
Chavo Guerrero Jr. (154 days)

About This Championship

The WWE Cruiserweight Championship was a title used by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from 2002 to 2007. The lineage WWE now recognizes began with the WCW Light Heavyweight Championship in 1991, which was abandoned in 1992 before WCW introduced a separate Cruiserweight Championship in 1996.

That championship continued after the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) purchased WCW in 2001, became the WWF Cruiserweight Championship following the end of the Alliance storyline, and received the WWE name when the company changed from the World Wrestling Federation to World Wrestling Entertainment on May 6, 2002.

Tajiri held the championship when WWE introduced the name, carrying a reign that began under the WCW name in October 2001 through both company-name changes. The Hurricane became the first wrestler to win the title under the WWE Cruiserweight Championship name when he defeated Tajiri and Billy Kidman in a three-way match during the May 14 SmackDown episode.

The championship remained part of SmackDown over the next several years, with wrestlers including Rey Mysterio, Jamie Noble, Matt Hardy, Chavo Guerrero, Kidman, Paul London, Kid Kash, and Gregory Helms moving through the title picture.

Jacqueline defeated Chavo Guerrero on May 6, 2004, becoming the first woman to hold the championship during its WWE period, before Guerrero regained it ten days later. His father, Chavo Classic, followed by winning the title on May 20 and remained champion until Mysterio defeated him in June.

Gregory Helms began the longest reign in the completed championship history at the Royal Rumble on January 29, 2006. Helms entered a six-man Cruiserweight Open as the final participant and pinned Funaki to win the championship.

He held the title for 384 days before another Cruiserweight Open at No Way Out on February 18, 2007. Jimmy Wang Yang eliminated Helms during the match, ending his reign, but Chavo Guerrero entered afterward and defeated Yang to become the new champion.

Chavo carried the title into The Great American Bash on July 22, where he defended it in another Cruiserweight Open against Jimmy Wang Yang, Shannon Moore, Funaki, Jamie Noble, and Hornswoggle.

Hornswoggle remained underneath the ring for much of the match before appearing late and pinning Noble after a Tadpole Splash, giving him the final reign in the championship’s history.

Hornswoggle held the title until the September 28 episode of SmackDown, when acting General Manager Vickie Guerrero ordered him to give up the championship because she said she wanted to protect him from wrestlers who might target him for the title.

WWE presented the vacancy as another opportunity for the cruiserweight division, but another champion was never crowned, and the championship disappeared from programming before being retired.

WWE later incorporated the 1991–1992 WCW Light Heavyweight Championship reigns into its official Cruiserweight Championship history, connecting that title to the WCW, WWF, and WWE versions that followed and creating the 1991–2007 lineage it recognizes today.

When WWE introduced another Cruiserweight Championship through the Cruiserweight Classic in 2016, it created a separate lineage that later became the NXT Cruiserweight Championship rather than continuing the championship retired in 2007.

Championship Name History

WCW Light Heavyweight Championship1991 – 1992

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WCW Cruiserweight Championship1996 – 2001

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WWF Cruiserweight Championship2001 – 2002

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WWE Cruiserweight Championship1991 – 2007

Complete List of Champions and Reign History for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship

= Reign Distinction = Includes Reign Notes

# Click to sort	Wrestler Click to sort	Date Won Click to sort	Opponent(s) Click to sort	Event Click to sort	Match Type Click to sort	Partner(s) Click to sort
—	Championship Deactivated from September 25, 2007 to Present (19 years)
Acting SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero stripped Hornswoggle of the championship, citing concerns for his well-being because of his size and his status as Mr. McMahon’s son. The championship was left vacant after the decision and was quietly phased out soon afterward without a formal retirement announcement.
79	Hornswoggle	Jul 22, 2007	Chavo Guerrero, Jimmy Wang Yang, Shannon Moore, Funaki, and Jamie Noble	The Great American Bash 2007	Cruiserweight Open Match	65
78	Chavo Guerrero	Feb 18, 2007	Daivari, Scotty 2 Hotty, Jimmy Wang Yang, Gregory Helms, Shannon Moore, Funaki, and Jamie Noble	No Way Out 2007	Cruiserweight Open Match	154
77	Gregory Helms	Jan 29, 2006	Nunzio, Kid Kash, Jamie Noble, Paul London, and Funaki	Royal Rumble 2006	Cruiserweight Open Match	385
76	Kid Kash	Dec 18, 2005	Juventud	Armageddon 2005	Singles Match	42
75	Juventud	Nov 22, 2005	Nunzio	SmackDown!	Singles Match	26
74	Nunzio	Nov 15, 2005	Juventud	House show	Singles Match	7
73	Juventud	Oct 9, 2005	Nunzio	No Mercy 2005	Singles Match	37
72	Nunzio	Aug 2, 2005	Paul London	Velocity	Singles Match	68
71	Paul London	Mar 29, 2005	Chavo Guerrero, Akio, Nunzio, Scotty 2 Hotty, Spike Dudley, Funaki, and Billy Kidman	SmackDown!	Battle Royal Match	126
70	Chavo Guerrero	Feb 20, 2005	Akio, Funaki, Spike Dudley, Shannon Moore, and Paul London	No Way Out 2005	Cruiserweight Open Match	37
69	Funaki	Dec 12, 2004	Spike Dudley	Armageddon 2004	Singles Match	70
68	Spike Dudley	Jul 27, 2004	Rey Mysterio	SmackDown!	Singles Match	138
67	Rey Mysterio	Jun 15, 2004	Chavo Classic	SmackDown!	Singles Match	42
66	Chavo Classic	May 18, 2004	Chavo Guerrero & Spike Dudley	SmackDown!	Triple Threat Match	28
65	Chavo Guerrero	May 16, 2004	Jacqueline	Judgment Day 2004	Singles Match	2
64	Jacqueline	May 4, 2004	Chavo Guerrero	SmackDown!	Singles Match	12
63	Chavo Guerrero	Feb 15, 2004	Rey Mysterio	No Way Out 2004	Singles Match	79
62	Rey Mysterio	Dec 30, 2003	Tajiri	SmackDown!	Singles Match	47
61	Tajiri	Sep 23, 2003	Rey Mysterio	SmackDown!	Singles Match	98
60	Rey Mysterio	Jun 3, 2003	Matt Hardy	SmackDown!	Singles Match	112
59	Matt Hardy	Feb 23, 2003	Billy Kidman	No Way Out 2003	Singles Match	100
58	Billy Kidman	Nov 17, 2002	Jamie Noble	Survivor Series 2002	Singles Match	98
57	Jamie Noble	Jun 23, 2002	The Hurricane	King of the Ring 2002	Singles Match	147
56	The Hurricane	May 14, 2002	Tajiri & Billy Kidman	SmackDown!	Triple Threat Match	40
Championship renamed to WWE Cruiserweight Championship on May 6, 2002
55	Tajiri	Apr 21, 2002	Billy Kidman	Backlash 2002	Singles Match	23
54	Billy Kidman	Apr 2, 2002	Tajiri	SmackDown!	Singles Match	19
Championship renamed to WWF Cruiserweight Championship on November 18, 2001
53	Tajiri	Oct 22, 2001	Billy Kidman	Raw	Singles Match	162
52	Billy Kidman	Oct 9, 2001	X-Pac	SmackDown!	Singles Match	13
51	X-Pac	Jul 30, 2001	Billy Kidman	Raw is War	Singles Match	71
50	Billy Kidman	Jul 3, 2001	Shane Helms	SmackDown!	Singles Match	27
49	Shane Helms	Mar 18, 2001	Chavo Guerrero Jr.	Greed 2001	Singles Match	107
48	Chavo Guerrero Jr.	Dec 4, 2000	Mike Sanders	Thunder	Singles Match	104
47	Mike Sanders	Oct 2, 2000	Elix Skipper & Kevin Nash	Monday Nitro	Handicap Powerbomb Match	63
46	Elix Skipper	Aug 14, 2000		Monday Nitro	Singles Match	49
Lance Storm awarded the title to Elix Skipper
45	Lance Storm	Jul 31, 2000	Lieutenant Loco	Monday Nitro	Singles Match	14
44	Lieutenant Loco	Jun 6, 2000	Disqo & Daffney	Thunder	Three-Way Match	55
43	Daffney	May 22, 2000	Crowbar	Monday Nitro	Singles Match	15
42	Crowbar & Daffney	May 15, 2000	Tammy Lynn Sytch & Chris Candido	Monday Nitro	Mixed Tag Team Match	7
41	Chris Candido	Apr 16, 2000	The Artist, Juventud Guerrera, Shannon Moore, Lash LeRoux, and Crowbar	Spring Stampede 2000	Six-Way Match	29
—	Title Vacated from April 10, 2000 to April 16, 2000 (6 days)
40	The Artist	Mar 31, 2000	Billy Kidman	House show	Singles Match	10
39	Billy Kidman	Mar 30, 2000	The Artist	House show	Singles Match	1
38	The Artist	Feb 20, 2000	Lash LeRoux	SuperBrawl 2000	Tournament Final Match	39
—	Title Vacated from January 18, 2000 to February 20, 2000 (33 days)
37	Oklahoma	Jan 16, 2000	Madusa	Souled Out 2000	Singles Match	2
Oklahoma was stripped of the belt for exceeding the weight limit on January 18, 2000.
36	Madusa	Dec 19, 1999	Evan Karagias	Starrcade 1999	Singles Match	28
35	Evan Karagias	Nov 21, 1999	Disco Inferno	Mayhem 1999	Singles Match	28
34	Disco Inferno	Oct 4, 1999	Psychosis	Monday Nitro	Singles Match	48
33	Psychosis	Oct 4, 1999		Monday Nitro	Singles Match	<1
Psychosis was awarded the title
—	Title Vacated on October 4, 1999
32	Lenny Lane	Aug 19, 1999	Rey Mysterio Jr.	Thunder	Singles Match	46
31	Rey Mysterio Jr.	Apr 26, 1999	Psychosis	Monday Nitro	Singles Match	115
30	Psychosis	Apr 19, 1999	Rey Mysterio Jr., Blitzkrieg, and Juventud Guerrera	Monday Nitro	Four-Way Match	7
29	Rey Mysterio Jr.	Mar 15, 1999	Billy Kidman	Monday Nitro	Singles Match	35
28	Billy Kidman	Nov 22, 1998	Juventud Guerrera	World War 3 1998	Singles Match	113
27	Juventud Guerrera	Nov 16, 1998	Billy Kidman	Monday Nitro	Singles Match	6
26	Billy Kidman	Sep 14, 1998	Juventud Guerrera	Monday Nitro	Singles Match	63
25	Juventud Guerrera	Aug 8, 1998	Chris Jericho	Road Wild 1998	Singles Match	37
24	Chris Jericho	Jun 14, 1998	Dean Malenko	The Great American Bash 1998	Singles Match	55
—	Title Vacated from June 11, 1998 to June 14, 1998 (3 days)
23	Dean Malenko	May 17, 1998	Chris Jericho	Slamboree 1998	Singles Match	25
22	Chris Jericho	Jan 24, 1998	Rey Mysterio Jr.	Souled Out 1998	Singles Match	113
21	Rey Mysterio Jr.	Jan 15, 1998	Juventud Guerrera	Thunder	Singles Match	9
20	Juventud Guerrera	Jan 8, 1998	Último Dragón	Thunder	Singles Match	7
19	Último Dragón	Dec 29, 1997	Eddie Guerrero	Monday Nitro	Singles Match	10
18	Eddie Guerrero	Nov 10, 1997	Rey Mysterio Jr.	Monday Nitro	Singles Match	49
17	Rey Mysterio Jr.	Oct 26, 1997	Eddie Guerrero	Halloween Havoc 1997	Title vs. Mask Match	15
16	Eddie Guerrero	Sep 14, 1997	Chris Jericho	Fall Brawl '97: War Games	Singles Match	42
15	Chris Jericho	Aug 12, 1997	Alex Wright	WCW Saturday Night	Singles Match	33
14	Alex Wright	Jul 28, 1997	Chris Jericho	Monday Nitro	Singles Match	15
13	Chris Jericho	Jun 28, 1997	Syxx	Saturday Nitro	Singles Match	30
12	Syxx	Feb 23, 1997	Dean Malenko	SuperBrawl VII	Singles Match	125
11	Dean Malenko	Jan 21, 1997	Último Dragón	Clash of the Champions XXXIV	Singles Match	33
10	Último Dragón	Dec 29, 1996	Dean Malenko	Starrcade 1996	Singles Match	23
9	Dean Malenko	Oct 27, 1996	Rey Mysterio Jr.	Halloween Havoc 1996	Singles Match	63
8	Rey Mysterio Jr.	Jul 8, 1996	Dean Malenko	Monday Nitro	Singles Match	111
7	Dean Malenko	May 2, 1996	Shinjiro Otani	WorldWide	Singles Match	67
6	Shinjiro Otani	Mar 20, 1996	Wild Pegasus	NJPW Hyper Battle 1996	Tournament Final Match	43
Championship renamed to WCW Cruiserweight Championship on March 20, 1996
—	Championship Deactivated from September 2, 1992 to March 20, 1996 (3 years, 6 months, 18 days)
5	Brad Armstrong	Jul 5, 1992	Scotty Flamingo	House show	Singles Match	59
4	Scotty Flamingo	Jun 20, 1992	Brian Pillman	Beach Blast 1992	Singles Match	15
3	Brian Pillman	Feb 29, 1992	Jushin Thunder Liger	SuperBrawl II	Singles Match	112
2	Jushin Thunder Liger	Dec 25, 1991	Brian Pillman	House show	Singles Match	66
1	Brian Pillman	Oct 27, 1991		Halloween Havoc 1991	Tournament Final Match	59

WWE Cruiserweight Championship Historical Reign Leaders List

#	Champion	Reigns	Total Days Held	Longest Reign (Days)	Avg. Reign (Days)	% of Career Title Held
1	Rey Mysterio	8	486	115	61	3.5%
2	Billy Kidman	7	334	113	48	6.1%
3	Chavo Guerrero Jr.	6	431	154	72	3.6%
4	Juventud Guerrera	5	113	37	23	0.89%
5	Chris Jericho	4	231	113	58	1.7%
5	Dean Malenko	4	188	67	47	2.2%
7	Gregory Helms	3	532	385	177	4.9%
7	Tajiri	3	283	162	94	2.4%
9	X-Pac	2	196	125	98	1.9%
9	Brian Pillman	2	171	112	86	1.1%
9	Eddie Guerrero	2	91	49	46	0.61%
9	Nunzio	2	75	68	38	0.57%
9	The Artist	2	49	39	25	0.64%
9	Último Dragón	2	33	23	17	0.23%
9	Psychosis	2	7	7	4	0.05%
16	Jamie Noble	1	147	147	147	1.4%
16	Spike Dudley	1	138	138	138	1.3%
16	Paul London	1	126	126	126	1.3%
16	Matt Hardy	1	100	100	100	0.84%
16	Funaki	1	70	70	70	0.83%
16	Jushin Thunder Liger	1	66	66	66	0.49%
16	Hornswoggle	1	65	65	65	0.78%
16	Mike Sanders	1	63	63	63	1.2%
16	Brad Armstrong	1	59	59	59	0.5%
16	Elix Skipper	1	49	49	49	1.1%
16	Disco Inferno	1	48	48	48	0.42%
16	Lenny Lane	1	46	46	46	0.47%
16	Shinjiro Otani	1	43	43	43	0.38%
16	Kid Kash	1	42	42	42	0.29%
16	Chris Candido	1	29	29	29	0.19%
16	Chavo Classic	1	28	28	28	0.16%
16	Evan Karagias	1	28	28	28	0.55%
16	Madusa	1	28	28	28	0.45%
16	Alex Wright	1	15	15	15	0.34%
16	Daffney	1	15	15	15	0.32%
16	Scotty Flamingo	1	15	15	15	0.11%
16	Lance Storm	1	14	14	14	0.14%
16	Jacqueline	1	12	12	12	0.12%
16	Crowbar & Daffney	1	7	7	7	—
16	Oklahoma	1	2	2	2	0.06%