![]() Matt Hardy as Cruiserweight Champion.
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The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and was originally a World Championship Wrestling title. It was challenged by cruiserweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs (97.5 kg)[1]. During its tenure in WWE, it was exclusive to the SmackDown! brand.
The WWE Cruiserweight Championship was recognized as formerly being the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Light Heavyweight Championship. Following the title's introduction in 1990, a tournament was held to determine the inaugural champion. On October 27, Brian Pillman defeated Richard Morton in the tournament final to win the title. However, when Brad Armstrong was forced to relinquish the title due to injury on September 2 1992, it became inactive. Then, on March 20 1996, Shinjiro Ohtani defeated The Pegasus Kid in a decision match to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation purchased World Championship Wrestling. Soon after, "The Invasion" took place, in which the WCW/ECW Alliance was ultimately dismantled. Following Survivor Series 2001, the title was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Cruiserweight Championship, replacing the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship.[1].
Following the WWF/WWE name change in 2002, the championship was subsequently referred to as the WWE Cruiserweight Championship and became exclusive to the SmackDown! brand. On September 28, 2007, the title was vacated after the final champion, Hornswoggle, was stripped of the championship by the SmackDown! General manager, Vickie Guerrero. [2]
After a six month absence, on March 3 2008, WWE removed the championship from the active superstars web page, where originally the title was listed as "vacant." Afterward, the title was removed from the active titles list on WWE's title histories web page to the defunct championship list. In this way, the title was quietly retired.[3][4]