WWE Cruiserweight Championship

The WWE Cruiserweight Championship belt with default side plates

The **WWE Cruiserweight Championship** is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the Raw brand. It is defended on *Monday Night Raw* and the cruiserweight-exclusive *205 Live*. The current champion is Enzo Amore, who is in his first reign.

Unveiled on September 14, 2016, as the award for the inaugural Cruiserweight Classic, which was won by TJ Perkins, it is contested in WWE's cruiserweight division by wrestlers at a maximum weight of 205 lb (93 kg). The championship was exclusive to *Monday Night Raw* until the premiere of *205 Live* in November 2016.

The title is distinct from the previous WWE Cruiserweight Championship that originated in World Championship Wrestling and was retired in 2007. The two titles share the name but not the title history.

## History

The Cruiserweight Classic was a WWE Network series and tournament for cruiserweights. Tournament qualifying matches took place in various promotions of the independent circuit, including well known promotions such as Revolution Pro Wrestling, Progress Wrestling, and Evolve. Many cruiserweight wrestlers from around the world were given the chance to qualify for the 32-man tournament, which took place over four dates: June 23, July 13, August 26, and September 14, 2016.

The final of the Cruiserweight Classic came down to TJ Perkins and Gran Metalik. Before the final match, Triple H revealed that the winner would not only receive a trophy, but would also become WWE Cruiserweight Champion for the new cruiserweight division on the Raw brand. Perkins defeated Metalik to become the inaugural champion. Like the WWE Championship's side plates, the Cruiserweight title's side plates include removable round sections, allowing the holder's personal logo to be added to the championship belt; the default sections show silver and purple world maps with the WWE logo over them. The WWE Cruiserweight Championship was designed by WWE and created by Peter Ellis of Leather Rebels. During Neville's reign, the color of the slash under the center plate's logo was changed from purple to orange.

In addition to *Monday Night Raw*, the Cruiserweight Championship is defended on the new show *205 Live*, a cruiserweight-exclusive show on the WWE Network that premiered on November 29, 2016. On the premiere episode, Rich Swann defeated The Brian Kendrick for the championship.

## Reigns

As of January 30, 2024, there have been 6 reigns between 5 champions. The inaugural champion was TJ Perkins. The oldest champion is The Brian Kendrick at 37 years old, while the youngest champion is Rich Swann at 25 years old. Neville is the longest reigning champion at 7003255700000000000♠2,557 days and most time reigning, while Akira Tozawa has the shortest reign at 6 days.

Enzo Amore is the current champion in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Neville on Spetember 24, 2017 at No Mercy in Brooklyn, New York.

 Location
 Event
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## Combined reigns

As of January 30, 2024.

 2
 3
 4
 5
 7

## See also

* Cruiserweight Classic
* WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1991–2007)
* List of current champions in WWE

## References

1. ↑ "WWE Cruiserweight Championship". WWE.com.
2. ↑ "WWE Network adds Global Cruiserweight Series to robust 2016 programming slate". *wwe.com*. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
3. ↑ "WWE Cruiserweight Classic tickets available starting Friday, May 20". *WWE*. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
4. ↑ "WWE Cruiserweight Classic: TJ Perkins becomes Raw’s first WWE Cruiserweight Champion". WWE. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Caldwell, James. "9/14 WWE Cruiserweight Tourney Finals – Caldwell's Complete Live Report". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
6. ↑ Hausman, Nick (December 21, 2016). "Rich Swann Gets Custom Plates On Cruiserweight Title (Video), Bubba Ray Hosting RAW Party In Freehold, NJ". *Wrestle Zone*. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
7. ↑ "Leather Rebels: WWE Cruiserweight Championship". *LeatherRebelsBelts.com*. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
8. ↑ HHH discusses 205 Live...and more - 411 Mania.com
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Namako, Jason. "WWE 205 Live Results – 11/29/16 (Rich Swann wins the WWE Cruiserweight Championship on the premiere episode)". *WreslteView*. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
10. ↑ Powell, Jason. "Powell’s WWE Hell in a Cell 2016 live review: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte for the WWE Women’s Championship, Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship, Roman Reigns vs. Rusev for the U.S. Championship". *Pro Wreslting Dot Net*. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
11. ↑ Powell, Jason. "1/29 Powell’s WWE Royal Rumble 2017 live review: AJ Styles vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship, Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns in a No DQ match for the WWE Universal Championship with Chris Jericho in a shark cage". *Pro Wreslting Dot Net*. Retrieved January 29, 2017.

## External links

* Official WWE Cruiserweight Title History

Template:WWE Championships
Template:WWE Cruiserweight Championship