List of WWE Cruiserweight Champions

= List of NXT Cruiserweight Champions =
The NXT Cruiserweight Championship(originally known as the WWE Cruiserweight Championship from 2016 to 2019) is a former professional wrestling championship that was created and promoted by the Americanpromotion WWE. Before its retirement, it was defended on the NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live brands. It was contested exclusively for wrestlers with a maximum bill weight of 205 lb (93 kg), referred to as cruiserweights. During its tenure, it was the only WWE championship with a weight limit.
Inaugural champion T.J. Perkins
Established as the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, the title was originally part of the Raw brand and defended on Monday Night Raw until the premiere of 205 Live, after which, it was defended on both shows until WrestleMania 34. Following this event, 205 Live became its own brand and the title became exclusive to 205 Live until October 2019 when it began to be defended on NXT. The title was subsequently renamed to NXT Cruiserweight Championship. In January 2020, the title was extended to NXT's sister brand NXT UK.
The championship was generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants executed scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. The inaugural champion was T.J. Perkins, who was awarded the title for winning the Cruiserweight Classic on September 14, 2016. Carmelo Hayes is recognized as the final champion. He defeated Roderick Strong on the special New Year's Evil episode of NXT 2.0 on January 4, 2022, to unify the title with the NXT North American Championship; the Cruiserweight Championship was immediately retired following his win.
Throughout the championship's short history, there were 20 reigns between 18 champions and one vacancy. The oldest champion was Roderick Strong, winning the title at 38 years old, while the youngest champion was Lio Rush when he won it at 24. Neville and Enzo Amorewere tied for the most reigns at two. Jordan Devlin's sole reign was the longest reign at 439 days, while final champion Carmelo Hayes' singular reign was the shortest at less than a minute as the title was immediately retired after he won it in a title unification match.
== Title historyEdit ==
=== NamesEdit ===
Name 	Years
WWE Cruiserweight Championship	September 14, 2016 – October 2, 2019
NXT Cruiserweight Championship	October 2, 2019 – January 4, 2022
=== ReignsEdit ===
Key
No. 	Overall reign number
Reign 	Reign number for the specific champion
Days 	Number of days held
Days recog.	Number of days held recognized by the promotion
No. 	Champion 	Championship change 	Championship change 	Championship change 	Reign statistics 	Reign statistics 	Reign statistics 	Notes 	Ref. 	
No. 	Champion 	Date 	Event 	Location 	Reign 	Days 	Days recog. 	Notes 	Ref. 	
WWE: Raw 	WWE: Raw 	WWE: Raw 	WWE: Raw 	WWE: Raw 	WWE: Raw 	WWE: Raw 	WWE: Raw 	WWE: Raw 	WWE: Raw 	WWE: Raw
1 	T.J. Perkins 	September 14, 2016 	Cruiserweight Classic Finale 	Winter Park, FL 	1 	46 	45 	Before the finale of the Cruiserweight Classic, WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H revealed that the winner would also win the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Championship for WWE's revived cruiserweightdivision exclusive to the Rawbrand. T.J. Perkins defeated Gran Metalik in the tournament final to become the inaugural champion. 	 	
2 	The Brian Kendrick 	October 30, 2016 	Hell in a Cell 	Boston, MA 	1 	30 	30 	 	 	
3 	Rich Swann 	November 29, 2016 	205 Live 	Columbia, SC 	1 	61 	60 	This was the inaugural episode of 205 Live. 	 	
4 	Neville 	January 29, 2017 	Royal Rumble 	San Antonio, TX 	1 	197 	196 	 	 	
5 	Akira Tozawa 	August 14, 2017 	Raw 	Boston, MA 	1 	6 	5 	 	 	
6 	Neville 	August 20, 2017 	SummerSlamKickoff 	Brooklyn, NY 	2 	35 	35 	 	 	
7 	Enzo Amore 	September 24, 2017 	No Mercy 	Los Angeles, CA 	1 	15 	15 	 	 	
8 	Kalisto 	October 9, 2017 	Raw 	Indianapolis, IN 	1 	13 	12 	This was a lumberjack match. 	 	
9 	Enzo Amore 	October 22, 2017 	TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 	Minneapolis, MN 	2 	93 	92 	 	 	
— 	Vacated 	January 23, 2018 	— 	— 	— 	— 	— 	Vacated due to Enzo Amore's release from WWE one day after it was confirmed that Amore was under investigation for an alleged sexual assault that was reported to the police in October 2017; the case was later dismissed in May 2018 due to lack of evidence. 	 	
10 	Cedric Alexander 	April 8, 2018 	WrestleMania 34Kickoff 	New Orleans, LA 	1 	181 	180 	Defeated Mustafa Ali in a tournament final to win the vacant championship.
The title then became exclusive to the 205 Livebrand. 	 	
WWE: 205 Live 	WWE: 205 Live 	WWE: 205 Live 	WWE: 205 Live 	WWE: 205 Live 	WWE: 205 Live 	WWE: 205 Live 	WWE: 205 Live 	WWE: 205 Live 	WWE: 205 Live 	WWE: 205 Live
11 	Buddy Murphy 	October 6, 2018 	Super Show-Down 	Melbourne, Australia 	1 	183 	183 	 	 	
12 	Tony Nese 	April 7, 2019 	WrestleMania 35Kickoff 	East Rutherford, NJ 	1 	77 	77 	 	 	
13 	Drew Gulak 	June 23, 2019 	Stomping GroundsKickoff 	Tacoma, WA 	1 	108 	108 	This was a triple threat match also involving Akira Tozawa, whom Gulak pinned.
In October 2019, the title became shared between 205 Live and NXT, and it was renamed the NXT Cruiserweight Championship. 	 	
WWE: NXT and 205 Live 	WWE: NXT and 205 Live 	WWE: NXT and 205 Live 	WWE: NXT and 205 Live 	WWE: NXT and 205 Live 	WWE: NXT and 205 Live 	WWE: NXT and 205 Live 	WWE: NXT and 205 Live 	WWE: NXT and 205 Live 	WWE: NXT and 205 Live 	WWE: NXT and 205 Live
14 	Lio Rush 	October 9, 2019 	NXT 	Winter Park, FL 	1 	63 	63 	 	 	
15 	Angel Garza 	December 11, 2019 	NXT 	Winter Park, FL 	1 	45 	44 	 	 	
16 	Jordan Devlin 	January 25, 2020 	Worlds Collide 	Houston, TX 	1 	439 	438 	This was a fatal four-way match also involving Travis Banksand Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, whom Devlin pinned. With Devlin's win, the title was extended to the NXT UKbrand. Devlin's reign ended on April 8, 2021 at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 2, when Santos Escobardefeated him to determine the undisputed champion. From May 27, 2020 (aired June 3) until April 8, 2021, both Devlin and Escobar were recognized as champion.	 	
WWE: NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live	WWE: NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live 	WWE: NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live	WWE: NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live	WWE: NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live	WWE: NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live	WWE: NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live	WWE: NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live	WWE: NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live 	WWE: NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live	WWE: NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live
17 	El Hijo del Fantasma/Santos Escobar	May 27, 2020 	NXT 	Winter Park, FL 	1 	321 	313 	Due to a travel ban as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, an interim champion was crowned in the United States until Jordan Devlin could return; Devlin, who resided in the United Kingdom, still defended the title on NXT UK while the U.S.-based interim champion defended the title on NXT. Fantasma defeated Drake Maverick in the finals of an eight-man tournament to become the interim champion in the U.S. WWE recognizes his reign as beginning on June 3, 2020, when the episode aired on tape delay.
On the June 10 episode, Fantasma unmasked and changed his ring name to Santos Escobar.
After Devlin made his return to the U.S. the following year, Escobar defeated Devlin in a ladder matchat TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 2 on April 8, 2021 to determine the undisputed champion (recognized as a continuation of his reign as interim champion).	 	
18 	Kushida 	April 13, 2021 	NXT 	Orlando, FL 	1 	161 	160 	 	 	
19 	Roderick Strong 	September 21, 2021 	NXT 2.0 	Orlando, FL 	1 	105 	105 	 	 	
20 	Carmelo Hayes 	January 4, 2022 	New Year's Evil 	Orlando, FL 	1 	<1 	<1 	This was a title unificationmatch, in which Hayes also defended the NXT North American Championship. 	 	
— 	Unified 	January 4, 2022 	— 	— 	— 	— 	— 	Carmelo Hayesdefeated Roderick Strong to unify the NXT Cruiserweight Championshipinto the NXT North American Championship. The Cruiserweight Championship was retired with Hayes going forward as North American Champion. 	 	
== Combined reignsEdit ==
Neville (left) and Enzo Amore (right) tied the record for most reigns at two
Longest reigning champion Jordan Devlin, who held the title for 439 days
Rank	Wrestler 	No. of
reigns	Combined
days	Combined days
rec. by WWE
1 	Jordan Devlin 	1	439	438
2 	El Hijo del Fantasma/Santos Escobar	1	321	313
3 	Neville 	2	232	231
4 	Buddy Murphy 	1	183	183
5 	Cedric Alexander 	1	181	180
6 	Kushida 	1	161	160
7 	Enzo Amore 	2	108	107
7 	Drew Gulak 	1	108	108
9 	Roderick Strong 	1	105	105
10 	Tony Nese 	1	77 	77
11 	Lio Rush 	1	63 	63
12 	Rich Swann 	1	61 	60
13 	T.J. Perkins 	1	46 	45
14 	Angel Garza 	1	45 	44
15 	The Brian Kendrick 	1	30 	30
16 	Kalisto 	1	13 	12
17 	Akira Tozawa 	1	6 	5
18 	Carmelo Hayes 	1	<1 	<1
== References ==
== External links ==