Not all pro wrestling fans have the same taste. For some fans, a slow-paced hard-hitting clash between two heavyweights is their ideal wrestling match. Other fans prefer more action-packed bouts. During the '90s, the latter started becoming a lot more popular in the American wrestling scene. After WCW experienced incredible success with their Cruiserweight division, WWE would soon follow suit.
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Unfortunately for WWE, their Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight divisions never quite caught on like WCW's. Despite the lack of success, WWE did feature some exceptional Cruiserweight Champions over the years. While some may not stand the test of time, they're all worth revisiting.
10 Matt Hardy
Breaking apart from a popular tag team is never easy for any performer. Things were even harder for Matt Hardy, who to a degree, always had a large shadow cast upon him by his younger brother Jeff. In 2003 though, Matt started working on one of his best gimmicks ever as "Matt Hardy, Version 1."
This shift in "Mattitude" would prove to be fruitful as Hardy would win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship in 2003. Hardy's quest to lose weight and make the weight limit for the Cruiserweight division was the most entertaining part of his reign. In the end, he'd hold the title for over three months before dropping it to Rey Mysterio in June 2003.
9 Enzo Amore
Today, it's easy to forget just how over Enzo Amore was at one point in his WWE career. At first, Enzo one half of one of the most popular tag teams in WWE at the time. After he and Big Cass split up, many fans were wondering what was next for the charismatic jabber mouth. The answer was a run in WWE's cruiserweight division.
At No Mercy 2017, Enzo shocked fans by defeating Neville to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Enzo's subsequent appearances on 205 Live would go on to do big numbers for the show. At least at first. Sadly, Enzo would be released by WWE in January 2018, ending his second reign as champion at 92 days.
8 Jordan Devlin
By now you should've realized that unfortunately, the list of "Great WWE Cruiserweight Champions" isn't very great. While they've all been incredible competitors, the truth is, we're not exactly looking at a who's who of wrestling superstars. Jordan Devlin is a great example of a super solid in-ring performer who would likely be ignored walking down the street.
In January 2020, Devlin got a huge vote of confidence when he won the NXT Cruiserweight Championship. Unfortunately, the global pandemic would loom over 90% of his reign. An interim champion would be crowned while Devlin wasn't allowed to travel. This led to a great Ladder Match to crown an undisputed Cruiserweight Champion, but not much else.
7 Roderick Strong
As superior as WWE was to WCW, their various attempts at a light heavyweight and cruiserweight division could never hold a candle to WCW's. While the in-ring action was decent, the performers just lacked a certain flare. Roderick Strong was one of the best in-ring technicians to hold the NXT Cruiserweight Championship. Like almost every other NXT Cruiserweight Champion though, he lacked a captivating element.
Roddy was the second-to-last NXT Cruiserweight Champion. He won the title from another great technician, Kushida, and held it for over 100 days. Roddy's reign would end when he was unsuccessful in his quest to unify the NXT Cruiserweight and North American Championships.
6 Chavo Guerrero
Chavo Guerrero is a walking example of a famous last name sometimes being a detriment to a performer. Chavo is part of the legendary Guerrero family but spent most of his career in the shadow of his wildly popular uncle, Eddie. Despite flying under many fans' radar, Chavo was an excellent performer and in-ring technician.
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One of the high points in Chavo's WWE career was his 2004 run as WWE Cruiserweight Champion. This came after Chavo and Eddie had parted ways as a team. Heel Chavo was one of the most entertaining Cruiserweight Champions ever. He briefly dropped the title to Jacqueline but quickly won it back. He'd lose the title again to his father, Chavo Classic, in a Triple Threat Match. All in all, Chavo had four reigns as WWE Cruiserweight Champion and was a great champion every time.
5 TJ Perkins
In hindsight, reviving the Cruiserweight Championship wasn't WWE's best idea. In theory, it made sense to try and showcase some of the smaller, more agile competitors on WWE's roster but the execution wasn't the best. Crowning the winner of the Cruiserweight Classic as the new Cruiserweight Champion was a great idea, but WWE never went all in on making the tournament winner, TJ Perkins a star.
On paper, Perkins was a great first champion. He had a uniquely captivating look and was a great worker. Unfortunately, WWE wouldn't book him very well. This would prove to be a common issue with most of the subsequent WWE Cruiserweight Champions. With better booking, TJ Perkins could've been a huge hit for the company.
4 Carmelo Hayes
Title unifications have always been a creative way to retire a championship. In 2019, after three years of being featured on the main roster and 205 Live, the WWE Cruiserweight Championship was rebranded as the NXT Cruiserweight Championship and made exclusive to NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live. Understandably, this hurt the title's prestige a bit.
While there were a couple of entertaining champions in 2020 and 2021, by late 2021, the decision was made to retire the Cruiserweight Championship. At New Year's Evil 2022, Carmelo Hayes defeated Roderick Strong to unify the NXT North American and Cruiserweight Championships. Melo would become arguably the most relevant NXT Cruiserweight Champion ever albeit for a brief second before the title was retired.
3 Santos Escobar
While Carmelo Hayes was easily the most high-profile competitor to hold the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, his reign was non-existent because of the title unification. Santos Escobar, on the other hand, had a reign that lasted a whopping 313 days. Santos started as Interim Champion when Jordan Devlin's reign was interrupted by the pandemic.
Santos would be an incredible heel champion during that time. At Takeover: Stand & Deliver, Santos would cement his reign by defeating Devlin in a Ladder Match where the winner would be recognized as the Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion. As far as the NXT rebrand goes, no reign even comes close to matching what Santos did.
2 Neville
As far as the Cruiserweight Championship's time being featured on the main roster is concerned, only one performer ever made the title seem relevant, Neville. After being underutilized for years, in 2017, Neville was thrown a bone and moved to the Cruiserweight division. The move could've been perceived as a demotion for Neville but he made the best of it.
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Neville would go on to be a dominant champion for a few months. He'd even begin referring to himself as the "King Of The Cruiserweights." Unfortunately, even after making the title relevant for the first time, WWE cut Neville's legs out from under him. He'd surprisingly lose the title to Akira Tozawa, quickly win it back, then drop it to Enzo Amore before going on hiatus from WWE.
1 Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio is arguably the greatest Cruiserweight Champion ever, promotions aside. In WCW, Mysterio was one of the catalysts behind the incredible success of the cruiserweight division. While in WCW though, Mysterio was working with the cream of the crop as far as cruiserweight competitors went. In WWE, not so much.
When Mysterio first arrived in WWE in 2002, the cruiserweight division was an afterthought. Even with arguably the greatest cruiserweight ever on the roster, not much attention was paid to the division by management. Sure, Mysterio is the most relevant WWE Cruiserweight Champions ever but that isn't saying much when you consider how little WWE cared about either incarnations of the division.
