5 Great Inaugural WWE Champions (And 5 That Sucked)

4. Taka Michinoku - WWE Light Heavyweight Champion

The WWE Light Heavyweight Title had a long history in Mexico and Japan, thanks to WWE's working agreements with other promotions, but in 1997, the company decided to reclaim its property. In an effort to compete with WCW's highly-regarded cruiserweight division, WWE recognised the Light Heavyweight Title on TV for the first time, and hosted an eight-man tournament for the belt.

The winner was Taka Michinoku, who defeated Brian Christopher in the finals. Almost immediately, though, it became clear that this was not the WCW Cruiserweight Title. The belt was quickly relegated to afterthought status, and the talent in the division simply wasn't up to WCW's standard.

Even Michinoku, who was a good worker, didn't have the flash and charisma of a Rey Mysterio, Jr. or an Eddie Guerrero.

Michinoku's reign - which lasted for ten months - was marked by inactivity and losses to heavyweights. Things got even worse after he lost the belt, as Duane Gill captured the title and it disappeared from TV for many months. When WWE bought out WCW, they phased out the Light Heavyweight Title and chose to adopt the lineage of the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.