20 Wrestlers You Totally Forgot Held WWE Championships

8. Essa Rios (Light Heavyweight Champion)

Essa Rios Lita
WWE.com

Another “star” of WWE’s Light Heavyweight Division, Essa Rios is best remembered for introducing Lita to WWE audiences. He debuted in 1997 as Aguila, though he rarely made any traction up the card, and was rebranded as Papi Chulo after a while. It took a second change for him to make any kind of waves in WWE, and he was a regular fixture on Sunday Night Heat through 1999 and 2000.

In February 2000, Rios defeated Gillberg to end his ridiculous 453-day reign as Champion, and he continued to defend the belt on Heat over the coming weeks. Rios lost the belt to Dean Malenko just one month later, however, and made an unsuccessful challenge for Eddie Guerrero’s European Championship at Backlash 2000.

Rios and Lita’s partnership came to an end shortly after. Essa attacked Lita after losing a match, and that was that: Lita became one of the most notable female stars in WWE history, and Essa Rios became a footnote.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.