WCW's Cruiserweight division was one of the most exciting things about WCW, and WWE thought that they could compete with their rivals directly by creating the Light Heavyweight Championship.
The Light Heavyweight Championship was around in the Attitude Era but sadly it became a laughing stock with the title barely defended on Raw and SmackDown. The title was relegated to being defended on WWE's third tier shows of Heat, Metal, and Jakked. Moreover, WWE did not have the personnel for a legitimate Light Heavyweight division, which is why the title failed but some of those champions wore the title with pride.
11 men had the privilege of holding the title, but who was the best Light Heavyweight Champion of all time?
11 Scotty 2 Hotty
The shortest Light Heavyweight Championship reign belongs to Scotty 2 Hotty. Scotty was a member of Too Cool, alongside Grand Master Sexay, but Sexay was ruled out injured, which allowed Scotty to dip into the Light Heavyweight Championship division briefly.
On the April 17, 2000 edition of Raw, Scotty upset Malenko to capture the Light Heavyweight Title, which was the sole singles title reign of his WWE career. He dropped the title back to Malenko, just nine days later on SmackDown but they had an underrated Light Heavyweight Championship match at Backlash, which blew off the feud.
10 Essa Rios
Essa Rios was an integral part of the Light Heavyweight division in 1997, going under the name Aguila. However, shortly thereafter, he was repackaged as Essa Rios and was managed by Lita.
Rios' aerial moves were off the chart, and he captivated audiences with his style of wrestling. Rios ended Gillberg's dreadful 448-day reign as Light Heavyweight Champion on the February 13, 2000 edition of Sunday Night Heat. His reign was disastrous, as he held the title for 31 days without registering a single successful title defense with Dean Malenko defeating him on Raw.
9 Tajiri
In 2001, Tajiri was introduced to WWE fans as the assistant to Commissioner William Regal. Tajiri did not speak English but his backstage skits with Regal were entertaining. Nevertheless, Tajiri challenged X-Pac for the Light Heavyweight Championship, who was a dual champion at the time by holding the Cruiserweight Championship.
Tajiri defeated X-Pac for his first taste of singles gold in WWE. Unfortunately, Tajiri's Light Heavyweight Title reign was forgettable as he held the title for 13 days. X-Pac regained the title in an excellent title unification bout at SummerSlam but Tajiri had success in WWE as Cruiserweight Champion towards the tail-end of the year.
8 Gillberg
The Light Heavyweight Title got off to a bright start in 1997 but it became a laughing stock when Gillberg won the title. The Goldberg impersonator upset Christian on the November 23, 1998, edition of Raw to kickstart his lengthy Light Heavyweight Championship.
Gillberg is the perfect example of a lengthy title reign being meaningless. The title was virtually retired when Gillberg held the title, and he wore on his way to the ring for his participation in the 1999 Royal Rumble match. He only successfully defended the title twice. Thankfully, Essa Rios rescued the title from his clutches but the damage was done with the longest-reigning Light Heavyweight Champion in history holding the gold for 448 days.
7 Christian
In late 1998, Christian made his debut on the WWE main roster, and he hooked up with Edge and Gangrel to form The Brood. At Judgment Day: In Your House, Christian defeated Taka Michinoku for the Light Heavyweight Championship, which was his debut match in WWE.
Christian retained the title twice before he embarrassingly lost the title to Gillberg. Nevertheless, Christian did not need the Light Heavyweight Championship, and he went on to become one of the most decorated tag team competitors with Edge, who were pioneers of Tag Team wrestling in the Attitude Era.
6 Crash Holly
When you think about the Hardcore Championship, you think about the 24/7 rule. Crash Holly was the mastermind behind it, as he introduced it when he won the Hardcore Title for the first time in January 2000.
The Elroy Jetson lookalike is one of the greatest Hardcore Champions in history. However, Crash unexpectedly dethroned Dean Malenko for the Light Heavyweight Championship. It's easy to forget that Crash even won the Light Heavyweight Title as he is known for his Hardcore Championship exploits. The Houdini of Hardcore retained the title twice before he lost it to Jerry Lynn on Heat before Backlash 2001 with a 44-day reign as champion.
5 Jerry Lynn
Jerry Lynn made a name for himself in ECW but when he rocked up to WWE, he made a huge impact almost instantly. Aforementioned, he ended Crash Holly's Light Heavyweight Championship reign for his sole singles title victory in WWE.
Lynn's stint in WWE was abrupt, and he only managed to retain the title against two-time former champion Dean Malenko on Heat. Lynn was a talented performer, and if he had the time to prove himself in WWE, he could have had some outstanding matches. Ultimately, the popular Jeff Hardy defeated him on the June 7, 2001, edition of SmackDown, ending his reign at 38 days.
4 Jeff Hardy
WWE started to test the waters by allowing The Hardy Boyz to compete in singles competition to see how they faired. Matt Hardy won the European Championship in April 2001, and a couple of months later, Jeff captured the Light Heavyweight Championship from Jerry Lynn.
Hardy had a brilliant 2001 as he upset Triple H for the Intercontinental Title albeit his reign was abrupt. The highlight of Hardy's 17-day Light Heavyweight Championship run was his match with X-Pac at the King of the Ring with the two tearing the house down. The following night on Raw, X-Pac cheated by putting his feet on the ropes to take the Light Heavyweight Title away from Jeff.
3 Dean Malenko
On January 31, 2000, Dean Malenko joined WWE as a member of The Radicalz alongside Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, and Chris Benoit. Malenko was known as The Man of 1,000 holds, and he became the first member of The Radicalz to win gold, when he defeated Essa Rios on the March 13 edition of Raw.
Malenko dropped the title to Scotty 2 Hotty a month later but quickly regained it. However, the title was a prop on Malenko's shoulder as he did not have any meaningful feuds over the gold. Malenko could have made this title special if he was given the chance to showcase his skills regularly. Ultimately, Malenko's second reign lasted 321 days, collectively holding the title for 355 days.
2 Taka Michinoku
Taka Michinoku had the honor of becoming the first Light Heavyweight Champion when he defeated Brian Christopher in an exceptional tournament final at D-Generation X: In Your House. Unfortunately, the Light Heavyweight Title division was a failure but Michinoku did his very best to spearhead the division.
He has the distinction of being the only Light Heavyweight Champion to defend the title at WrestleMania, and he retained it against Aguila at WrestleMania XIV. Surprisingly, Taka turned heel when he joined Kai En Tai, with who he was feuding. Nevertheless, Michinoku's 314-day reign as Light Heavyweight Champion was ended by Christian in his debut match.
1 X-Pac
The greatest Light Heavyweight Champion in WWE history is X-Pac. X-Pac disassociated himself from DX in 2000, and he formed a short-lived faction called X-Faction with Albert and Justin Credible.
X-Pac ended Jeff Hardy's reign for his first Light Heavyweight Championship run in June 2001. His match with WCW Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman at Invasion was off the charts. Ultimately, X-Pac became the first man to hold both the Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight Title, when he defeated Kidman on July 30, 2001, edition of Raw.
X-Pac's in-ring work was at a high-level, and when he regained the Light Heavyweight Title from Tajiri at SummerSlam, he held both belts for two months. He was due to square off with Tajiri at Survivor Series in a title unification match but X-Pac was injured, therefore, he was the final Light Heavyweight Champion.
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