WWE Cruiserweight Champions: Ranked From Worst To Best
9. Spike Dudley
The man Funaki won the belt from, Spike Dudley, had a marginally more exciting reign that lasted almost twice as long as the Japanese star's did. The littlest Dudley was drafted to Smackdown in the March 2004 draft and began competing in the cruiserweight division.
He entered into a friendly rivalry with sometimes tag partner Rey Mysterio, eventually downing the masked man for the gold when the Dudley Boys interfered on his behalf. This set Spike up as the 'boss' of the Dudleys, as he would use them for protection and order them to beat up challengers for his title, such as Paul London and Billy Kidman (and Rey Rey).
After so long playing the underdog babyface on Raw, it was nice to see the gutsy Spike given a new role. Although he wasn't always present defending the title on Smackdown and PPV, Spike did well with the role and looked reinvigorated. He had decent defences at No Mercy (Nunzio) and Survivor Series (Mysterio, Kidman and Chavo Guerrero).
Not the best champion, but he was certainly something different and a nice change of pace.