10 Great WWE Championship Reigns (That Ended In The Worst Way Possible)

Fans and wrestlers alike love to complain about the supposed irrelevance of the Intercontinental and United States Championships, but such grievances must further raise the ire of the poor, neglected, mistreated Cruiserweight Championship. WWE has a wretched history when it comes to booking junior heavyweight wrestling. Has there ever been a good WWE Cruiserweight Championship reign?

Well, the answer to that question is yes, but you have to go back to 2006 to find it. Gregory Helms returned to action at that year’s Royal Rumble, shedding his Hurricane persona and taking on an altogether more serious demeanour, a change in attitude that immediately led to championship glory. Helms won the title in a six-man Cruiserweight Open, a match that also involved Funaki, Jamie Noble, Nunzio, Paul London and then-champion Kid Kash. An inauspicious beginning, but Helms held the title with honour for 385 days.

Helms defended the title against quite literally the entire division, beating challenger after challenger, week after week. He then began competing against superstars in the upper echelons of the card, putting up credible fights against Chris Benoit and Matt Hardy, among others, before continuing his feud against the entire cruiserweight division.

The excellent reign came to the dampest squib of endings when Helms lost the title in yet another Cruiserweight Open match. The entire story was built up for an individual to stand up for the rest of the division and dethrone the menace, making a new babyface star in the process, but the multi-man schmozz was used to move the title from Helms to Chavo Guerrero, who soon lost it to Hornswoggle in a story that needs to be erased from history.