10 Times WWE Totally BOTCHED A New Title
3. WWF Light Heavyweight Championship
During the Monday Night War, WCW might have had the tagline, “Where the big boys play,” but the company excelled at giving cruiserweights a tremendous platform. Their Cruiserweight Championship would become a staple of the company, so much so that WWF/E would retain it after buying out WCW.
But before then, WWF tried to establish its own title for smaller wrestlers: the Light Heavyweight Championship. Whereas WCW’s cruiserweight division was stocked with wrestlers like Rey Mysterio Jr., Psicosis, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Juventud Guerrero, Billy Kidman and Ultimo Dragon, WWF’s light division was… different.
Sure, they had Taka Michinoku, but others included members of Kaientai, Scott Taylor, Brian Christopher and Christian – not exactly the same pedigree or international flavor of wrestlers. The matches weren’t presented in the same manner, and the division never really materialized as a focal point for WWF programming like it did in WCW.
Within a year, the title was around the waist of Duane Gill, a joke champion who would hold the title for nearly 15 months without defending it on WWF programming for 14 of those months. The title would resurface in early 2000 as Gillberg would lose the title to Essa Rios, who was outshone by his valet, Lita.
By then, the title was little more than a prop. When WWF bought out WCW in early 2001, it was pretty clear which of the two titles carried more prestige and would survive. The Light Heavyweight Championship was quietly deactivated in 2002.