Ranking Every First Current WWE Champion From Worst To Best

14. NXT Cruiserweight Champion - TJ Perkins

Seth Rollins Jim Ross
WWE.com

Long before it was (partially) saved by an NXT relaunch, the Cruiserweight Title was an oft-traded oft-mocked title that hid quality matches from the glare of the WWE main roster by taking place on kickoff shows or a project nobody ever made time to watch.

Before that, it was a symbol of hope won and worn proudly by TJ Perkins following his victory in the genuinely fantastic Cruiserweight Classic. WWE got bored like they always do, but this felt the closest to palpable philosophical change with the weight limit in years.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett