Último Dragón: More Belt Than Man

Shortly after Último Dragón lost the J-Crown, the championship itself was deactivated when the WWE decided to re-introduce their Light-heavyweight division and realised the original belt was being used elsewhere. Último Dragón's story, however, was far from finished.

After dropping the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, Último Dragón was riding high on a wave of popularity and set his eyes on the WCW Television Championship, which he ultimately won from Prince Iaukea in April 1997. He held onto the belt for several weeks before losing it to Steve 'William' Regal in May, but promptly won it back in July. A few months later he re-entered the Cruiserweight Title picture, beating the legendary Eddie Guerrero for one last run with the belt. This victory occurred on December 1997, exactly one year to the day since he first won the WCW Cruiserweight Title and set his famous record.

Unfortunately, Último suffered an arm injury in 1998 that required surgery to remove numerous bone chips. However, the surgery was badly botched and ended up shredding the nerves in his arm, causing him to lose most of the feeling in it. It was so bad that it prompted him to announce his retirement from in-ring competition. He became a trainer, but wasn't happy with this position, and in 2002 underwent surgery to repair the nerve damage with the hope of returning to wrestling.