Cruiserweight Championship

The Cruiserweight Championship was first awarded to the winner of the Cruiserweight Classic, a tournament that took place on the course of December 2016 and January 2017. It was TJ Perkins that became the first champion, defeating Kota Ibushi on Main Event to win the belt.

## History

The Cruiserweight Classic was divided into two groups of four, with the top two from Group A and Group B facing off in the semi-finals. The winners were TJ Perkins and the undefeated Kota Ibushi, who faced off in the finals, a rematch of the very first match in the Cruiserweight Classic. Perkins flipped the script, tapping out the Golden Star to lift the belt.

After TJ Perkins became the first Cruiserweight Champion, he was attacked by Neville. The self-proclaimed King of the Cruiserweights was upset that he was not a part of the tournament, and proved his worth by defeating Perkins in a non-title match. Will Ospreay won a battle royal to become number one contender, and despite Neville's meddling, TJ defeated Ospreay to make his first title defense. However, on the March 8th edition of Main Event, Neville forced Perkins to tap out to guilliotine choke to become the new champion.

The Man That Gravity Forgot seemed ready to lead a long title reign, however it all came crashing down. Number one contender Noam Dar defeated Neville on the final episode of Main Event to become the third Cruiserweight Champion, abruptly putting a stop to the King of the Cruiserweights.

With the start of Season 3 and the return of NXT, the Cruiserweight Championship was moved to NXT, becoming it's new mid-card championship. On the May 3rd edition of NXT, Dar lost the championship back to Neville in his first defense, making Neville a two time champion. He went to hold onto the belt for an incredibly long time, dominanting the Cruiserweight division. After not defending the championship at Takeover: Chicago, his first defense was on a Championship Night edition of NXT, which took place on June 28th. There, he successfully retained his championship against Cedric Alexander. His next challenger was the recently debuted Roderick Strong, whom Neville put down at Takeover: Brooklyn. Neville would defeat Jack Gallagher at Takeover: Toronto , and survived a triple threat match against Akira Tozawa and Gran Metalik at Takeover: San Antonio . With wins over pratically every competitor in the division, Neville left NXT when his contract expired, vacating the belt.

With the championship now vacant, a new champion needed to be crowned. At Takeover: Chicago , Cedric Alexander, Drew Gulak, Mustafa Ali and Oney Lorcan vied for the belt in a fatal four way, which Gulak would win. But Cedric wasn't giving up, and would earn another shot at the belt. At Takeover: Brooklyn , the Age of Alexander would finally begin, as Cedric defeated Gulak for his first singles championship after several high profile losses. Cedric's first test as champion was the debuting KUSHIDA, and both men would have a great match at Takeover: Tokyo which the champion would win. The much beloved Mustafa Ali would get his chance next, becoming number one contender. At Takeover: Philadelphia, a surprise small package abruptly ended Cedric's title reign, as Ali got his chance to be champion. But it was Alexander who got the opportunity to compete in the Royal Rumble, which got Ali's blood boiling. He demanded a rematch, but to prove his superiority, it would be a Two out of Three Falls match. In a true classic, a DDT on the ring apron was enough to score the third and final fall in Alexander's favor, as he became the second multiple time champion at Takeover: New Orleans.

Cedric's first challenger as the two-time champ would be Gentleman Jack Gallagher at Takeover: Blackpool, though controversy would abound in the build up to the match, after Roderick Strong successfully pinned Gallagher, but was told by NXT GM Triple H that he wasn't worthy of a title shot. At the event, Alexander beat Gallagher, before a hooded Strong wreaked havoc, attacking both champion and challenger before escaping into the crowd. Hunter would then book Strong and Alexander in a Street Fight, promising that when Roddy lost, he would fire him on the spot. But in another shocking end to a title match, at Takeover: Seattle, Triple H actually distracted Alexander instead, allowing Strong to finally win the belt, before both men shook hands in a bizarre moment. With Strong now at the top of the division, he got involved in a feud with the Lucha House Party, formerly of Raw, defeating Kalisto in a title match on the October 23rd edition of NXT. A new surprise number one contender began to emerge during this time, the "Best Kept Secret" Buddy Murphy, who won multiple matches from August through to the start of November, when he became the next challenger by winning a battle royal. In front of an incredibly partisan crowd in his home country of Australia, Murphy became another new champion in shocking fashion at Takeover: Sydney, dethroning Strong thanks to an assist from the returning Alexander. A wild year for the Cruiserweight strap ends in more controversy and another shocking title change.