WCW Light Heavyweight Championship
WCW Light Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||
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Details | |||||||||||||
Promotion | World Championship Wrestling | ||||||||||||
Date established | October 27, 1991 | ||||||||||||
Date retired | September 2, 1992 | ||||||||||||
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The WCW Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that was contested in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1991 and 1992. Conceived in 1991, the championship was first awarded as the result of a single-elimination tournament; its subsequent lineage ended when the final champion Brad Armstrong was stripped of the title due to injury. A second tournament to decide Armstrong's successor was announced, but never took place. The title was held by four different champions; the inaugural champion Brian Pillman was the only wrestler to win it on more than one occasion.
History
The light heavyweight division which contested the championship had proved popular with fans, but its viability suffered as a result of WCW's creative decisions; in 1992,
Overview
Creation
The WCW Light Heavyweight Championship was created in 1991, with the inaugural champion decided though a single-elimination tournament held over several weeks. Seven wrestlers were used for the tournament—three quarter final matches, one of whom entered at the semi-final stages. The first two quarter finals were broadcast on
Both of the semi-final matches were held at September's
Inaugural championship tournament
Quarter finals | Semi finals | Final | ||||||||
Clash of the Champions XVI | ||||||||||
Johnny Rich | ||||||||||
Richard Morton | Pin | |||||||||
Main Event | ||||||||||
Mike Graham | 7:40 | |||||||||
Terrence Taylor | ||||||||||
Halloween Havoc | ||||||||||
Mike Graham | ||||||||||
Richard Morton | Pin | |||||||||
Brian Pillman | 12:43 | |||||||||
Badstreet | Pin | |||||||||
WorldWide | ||||||||||
Brian Pillman | 6:52 | |||||||||
Badstreet | ||||||||||
Joey Maggs | ||||||||||
Defending the title
Pillman's reign as champion continued until December 1991, when he began to feud with masked Japanese wrestler
Pillman successfully defended the championship against
Vacancy and legacy
As the September 1992
In 1996, WCW once again held a tournament to crown a champion for the weight class, this time under the title
Reigns
No. | Overall reign number |
---|---|
Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
Days | Number of days held |
No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | |||
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Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | ||||
1 | Brian Pillman | October 27, 1991 | Halloween Havoc | Chattanooga, TN | 1 | 59 | Pillman defeated Richard Morton in the finals of a tournament to decide the inaugural champion. | [3][4][9] |
2 | Jushin Thunder Liger
|
December 25, 1991 | House show | Atlanta, GA | 1 | 66 | [4][9][10] | |
3 | Brian Pillman | February 29, 1992 | SuperBrawl II | Milwaukee, WI | 2 | 112 | [4][9] | |
4 | Scotty Flamingo | June 20, 1992 | Beach Blast | Mobile, AL | 1 | 15 | [4][9] | |
5 | Brad Armstrong | July 5, 1992 | House show | Atlanta, GA | 1 | 59 | [4][9][11] | |
— | Deactivated | September 2, 1992 | Clash of the Champions XX: 20th Anniversary
|
Atlanta, GA | — | — | The championship was vacated due to Brad Armstrong's injury; a tournament to crown a new champion was announced, but never held. | [4][9] |
Combined reigns
Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined days |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Brian Pillman | 2 | 171 |
2 | Jushin Thunder Liger |
1 | 66 |
3 | Brad Armstrong | 1 | 59 |
4 | Scotty Flamingo | 1 | 15 |
See also
- NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, predecessor in Jim Crockett Promotions
- WWF Light Heavyweight Championship
- NXT Cruiserweight Championship
References
- ^ a b "WCW Light Heavyweight Championship Tournament – 1991". The History of WWE. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ Lentz 2003, p. 271.
- ^ Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "WCW World Light Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ a b c "WCW – 1992". The History of WWE. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ Klein 2012, p. 129.
- ^ "Cruiserweight Championship". WWE. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f Schadler, Kyle (December 7, 2011). "Abandoned: The History of the WWE Cruiserweight Championship". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
- ^ Mueller, Chris (November 9, 2009). "The Best International Star: Jushin "Thunder" Liger". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
- ^ Lentz 2003, p. 18.
- Klein, Greg (2012). The King of New Orleans: How the Junkyard Dog Became Professional Wrestling's First Black Superhero. ECW Press. ISBN 1770902244.
- Lentz, Harris M. (2003). Biographical Dictionary of Professional Wrestling (2nd ed.). McFarland. ISBN 147660505X.
External links