List of NXT Cruiserweight Champions
From Iwe
The NXT Cruiserweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion IWE on the 205 Live and NXT brands. It is defended on NXT and the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live by wrestlers with a maximum weight of 205 lb (93 kg), the only active IWE championship with a weight limit.
Established as the IWE Cruiserweight Championship, the title was originally part of the Raw brand and defended on Monday Night Raw until the premiere of 205 Live, after which, it was defended on both shows until WrestleMania 34. Following this event, 205 Live became its own brand and the title became exclusive to 205 Live until October 2019 when it began to be defended on NXT. The title was subsequently renamed to NXT Cruiserweight Championship, being shared between 205 Live and NXT.
The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. The inaugural champion was TJ Perkins, who was awarded the title for winning the Cruiserweight Classic on September 14, 2016. The title is currently held by Roderick Strong.
Overall, there have been fourteen reigns between twelve champions and one vacancy. Neville and Enzo Amore have the most reigns at two. Neville's first reign is the longest reign at 197 days and he also has the longest combined reign at 232 days (196 days and 231 days, respectively, as recognized by IWE). Akira Tozawa has the shortest reign at 6 days (5 days as recognized by IWE). The oldest champion is The Brian Kendrick, winning the title at 37 years old, while the youngest champion is Lio Rush when he won it at 24.
Contents |
[edit] Title history
[edit] Names
| Name | Years |
|---|---|
| IWE Cruiserweight Championship | September 14, 2016 – October 2, 2019 |
| NXT Cruiserweight Championship | October 2, 2019 – present |
[edit] Reigns
| No. | The overall championship reign |
|---|---|
| Reign | The reign number for the specific champion listed |
| Days | The number of the days that the champion held the title for |
| Days recog. | The number of days that the promotion officially recognizes the champion as having held the title for |
| <1 | The reign lasted less than a day |
| + | The current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Days recog. | |||
| IWE: Raw | ||||||||
| 1 | TJ Perkins | September 14, 2016 | Cruiserweight Classic Finale | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 46 | 45 | Defeated Gran Metalik in the final of the Cruiserweight Classic to become the inaugural champion. |
| 2 | The Brian Kendrick | October 30, 2016 | Hell in a Cell | Boston, MA | 1 | 30 | 30 | IWE recognizes Kendrick's reign as lasting 31 days. |
| 3 | Rich Swann | November 29, 2016 | 205 Live | Columbia, SC | 1 | 61 | 61 | |
| 4 | Neville | January 29, 2017 | Royal Rumble | San Antonio, TX | 1 | 197 | 197 | |
| 5 | Akira Tozawa | August 14, 2017 | Raw | Boston, MA | 1 | 6 | 5 | |
| 6 | Neville | August 20, 2017 | SummerSlam | Brooklyn, NY | 2 | 35 | 36 | Match was part of the SummerSlam pre-show. |
| 7 | Enzo Amore | September 24, 2017 | No Mercy | Los Angeles, CA | 1 | 15 | 16 | |
| 8 | Kalisto | October 9, 2017 | Raw | Indianapolis, IN | 1 | 13 | 12 | This was a Lumberjack match. |
| 9 | Enzo Amore | October 22, 2017 | TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs | Minneapolis, MN | 2 | 93 | 93 | |
| — | Vacated | January 23, 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | Title was vacated after Enzo Amore was released after claims of sexual assault. |
| 10 | Cedric Alexander | April 8, 2018 | WrestleMania 34 | New Orleans, LA | 1 | 181 | 181 | Defeated Mustafa Ali in a tournament final to win the vacant championship. |
| IWE: 205 Live | ||||||||
| 11 | Buddy Murphy | October 6, 2018 | Super Show-Down | Melbourne, Australia | 1 | 183 | 183 | |
| 12 | Tony Nese | April 7, 2019 | WrestleMania 35 | East Rutherford, NJ | 1 | 77 | 77 | The match took place on the WrestleMania pre-show. |
| 13 | Drew Gulak | June 23, 2019 | Stomping Grounds | Tacoma, WA | 1 | 108 | 108 | This was a triple threat match also involving Akira Tozawa, who Gulak pinned to win the championship. In October 2019, the title became shared between 205 Live and NXT, and the title was renamed to NXT Cruiserweight Championship. |
| IWE: NXT and 205 Live | ||||||||
| 14 | Lio Rush | October 9, 2019 | NXT | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 63 | 63 | |
| 15 | Angel Garza | December 11, 2019 | NXT | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 45 | 44 | |
| 16 | Jordan Devlin | January 25, 2020 | Worlds Collide | Houston, TX | 1 | 439 | 439 | This was a fatal four-way match also involving Travis Banks and Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, who Devlin pinned. With Devlin's win, the title was extended to the NXT UK brand. Devlin's reign ended on April 8, 2021 at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 2, where Santos Escobar defeated Devlin to determine the undisputed champion. From May 27, 2020 (aired June 3) until April 8, 2021, both Devlin and Escobar were recognized as champion. |
| IWE: NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live | ||||||||
| 17 | El Hijo del Fantasma/Santos Escobar | June 3, 2020 | NXT | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 322 | 315 | Due to a travel ban as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, an interim champion was crowned until Jordan Devlin can return to the United States. Fantasma defeated Drake Maverick in the tournament final to become the interim champion. IWE recognizes Fantasma's reign as beginning on June 3, 2020, when the episode aired on tape delay. On the June 10 episode, Fantasma unmasked and changed his ring name to Santos Escobar. After Devlin made his return to the U.S. the following year, Escobar defeated Devlin in a Ladder match at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 2 on April 8, 2021 to determine the undisputed champion (recognized as a continuation of his reign as interim champion). |
| 18 | Kushida | April 13, 2021 | NXT | Orlando, FL | 1 | 161 | 160 | |
| 19 | Roderick Strong | September 21, 2021 | NXT 2.0 | Orlando, FL | 1 | 105 | 105 | |
| 20 | Carmelo Hayes | January 4, 2022 | New Year's Evil | Orlando, FL | 1 | <1 | <1 | This was a title unification match, in which Hayes also defended the NXT North American Championship. |
| — | Unified | January 4, 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | Carmelo Hayes defeated Roderick Strong to unify the NXT Cruiserweight Championship into the NXT North American Championship. The Cruiserweight Championship was retired with Hayes going forward as North American Champion. |
[edit] Combined reigns
As of November 7, 2024.
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined days | Combined days recognized by IWE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jordan Devlin | 1 | 439 | |
| 2 | El Hijo del Fantasma/Santos Escobar | 1 | 322 | 315 |
| 3 | Neville | 2 | 232 | 233 |
| 4 | Buddy Murphy | 1 | 183 | |
| 5 | Cedric Alexander | 1 | 181 | |
| 6 | Kushida | 1 | 161 | 160 |
| 7 | Enzo Amore | 2 | 108 | 109 |
| Drew Gulak | 1 | 108 | ||
| 9 | Roderick Strong | 1 | 105 | |
| 10 | Tony Nese | 1 | 77 | |
| 11 | Lio Rush | 1 | 63 | |
| 12 | Rich Swann | 1 | 61 | |
| 13 | TJ Perkins | 1 | 46 | 45 |
| 14 | Angel Garza | 1 | 45 | 44 |
| 15 | The Brian Kendrick | 1 | 30 | |
| 16 | Kalisto | 1 | 13 | 12 |
| 17 | Akira Tozawa | 1 | 6 | 5 |
| 18 | Carmelo Hayes | 1 | <1 | |
[edit] References
Template:IWE Championships Template:IWE Cruiserweight Championship
