CMLL World Lightweight Championship

CMLL World Lightweight Championship

Máscara Dorada, the 11th over-all Champion
Details
Promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Date established February 27, 1999[1]
Current champion(s) Dragon Lee[2]
Date won March 4, 2016[2]
Other name(s)
CMLL Japan Super Lightweight Championship (1999 - 2000)[1]
CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship (2003 - 2012)[3]

The CMLL World Lightweight Championship (Spanish: Campeonato Mundial de Peso Ligero del CMLL) is a professional wrestling world championship promoted by the Mexican Lucha Libre wrestling-based promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Originally CMLL promoted the "Super Lightweight" division as part of their expansion into Japan from 1999 until 2000 and later reintroduced the division in 2003 as the CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship was used by CMLL in Mexico. During Máscara Dorada reign with the title between 2009 and 2011 the name was changed to be the CMLL Lightweight Championship instead.

Dragon Lee is the current CMLL World Lightweight Champion after defeating Kamaitachi for the championship on March 4, 2016. Dragon Lee is the 15th overall champion and is a two-time champion. The first CMLL Japan Super Lightweight Champion was Masatu Yakushiji, who won it on February 27. 1999.

Background

Wrestler Rick Marvin in the ring during a match
Ricky Marvin, champion when the title was called the CMLL Japan Super Lighweight Championship

In 1999 CMLL began to tour Japan, promoting a series of wrestling shows under the name "CMLL Japan". The shows featured a mixture of CMLL and native Japanese wrestlers On February 27, 1999, they held a one night tournament to determine who would be the first ever CMLL Japan Super Lightweight Championship, making the first time in the history of CMLL that they had a championship specifically for that weight class.[8] The tournament finale saw the Japanese Masato Yakushiji defeat CMLL wrestler Rencor Latino to become the first ever champion.[1] Over the following year CMLL promoted additional shows in Japan and had CMLL wrestler Virus win the championship from Yakushiji. Subsequently Virus and Mexican Ricky Marvin, who worked for a number of Japanese promotions at the time, exchanged the title over the fall of 2000, the last title change taking place in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico after the final CMLL Japan tour had ended.[4] The championship was discontinued by the end of 2000 as CMLL abandoned future plans to promote shows in Japan.[4]

Rocky Romero posing in the ring before a match.
Three-time champion Rocky Romero in March 2009

In 2003 CMLL reinstated the Super Lightweight division after a series of very well-received matches between the Southern California team of the Havana Brothers (Havana Brother I, Havana Brother II and Havana Brother I) and the CMLL team of Ricky Marvin, Virus and Volador, Jr.. CMLL announced that they were establishing the CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship, elevating the division from a regional to a "World" level championship. CMLL held a torneo cibernetico elimination match, which included the Havana Brothers, Sangre Azteca, Ricky Marvin, Virus, Volador, Jr. Super Comando, Loco Max, Tigre Blanco, Neutro and Sombra de Plata. Havana Brother I (a masked Rocky Romero) the match and the tournament by eliminating Volador, Jr.[3] A few months later Virus defeated Romero for the title, after which the Havana Brothers stopped working for CMLL on a regular basis.[3] For the following year the title was not defended, nor hardly promoted by CMLL until Rocky Romero returned to the promotion. This time, Romero worked unmasked, but CMLL acknowledged his previous title reign as part of a buildup to a championship rematch between Romero and Virus.[5] Romero became a two-time champion on December 10, 2004, but stopped working for CMLL shortly after the match.[5] CMLL made no attempts to regain the title and Romero would on occasion work on the Southern California independent circuit as the Super Lightweight Champion.[9] In 2005 he lost the championship to Tommy Williams in a match that received no mainstream coverage and the title change was only made public when they promoted a rematch between Williams and Romero.[9] Romero regained the title from Tommy Williams but never defended it afterwards, nor did he work for CMLL in 2006 or 2007.[10][11] When Romero did return to CMLL in 2008 it was an enmascarado, or masked character called "Grey Shadow" with no public acknowledgment of his past with CMLL.[12]

The championship was not officially declared vacant until Romero left CMLL to work for their rival Asistencia Asesoria y Administracion (AAA) and quickly announced a tournament to crown a new champion.[13] On April 7, 2009 Máscara Dorada won a torneo cibernetico elimination match to win the Super Lightweight championship.[14] During Máscara Dorada's reign the weight class was adjusted to be the "Lightweight" division instead of the "Super Lightweight" division.[14][15] In 2011 Dorada vacated the championship as he was moving up to the Middleweight division instead.[15] Virus became a four-time Champion on June 7, 2011 by defeating Guerrero Maya Jr. in a tournament final, making him the only wrestler to have held all three versions of the championship.[6]

Reigns

Dragon Lee is the current champion in his second reign, after defeating Kamaitachi on March 4, 2016, to win the title.[2] Eight different wrestlers have held the championship for 15 reigns in total. Virus holds the record for most reigns, four; two in Japan and two in Mexico. His four reigns combine to 2,046 days, more than any other champion and his fourth reign lasted a total of 1,398 days the longest individual reign. Ricky Marvin had the shortest individual reign, lasting somewhere between 1 day and 32 days.[Note 1]

Rules

The championship was originally a "Super Lightweight" championship, which in lucha libre is between 70 kg (150 lb) and 73 kg (161 lb); later on it was modified to be for the Lightweight division, which is between 63 kg (139 lb) and 70 kg (150 lb).[16] CMLL has at times ignored the weight limit, promoting champions such as Dragon Lee who was billed as weighing 75 kg (165 lb) when he won the championship.[17] As it is a professional wrestling championship, it is not won legitimately; its holders are determined by promoters or promotions, not by athletic competition.[18]

Title history

Key
Symbol Meaning
# The overall championship reign
Reign The reign number for the specific wrestler listed.
Event The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands
N/A The specific information is not known
— Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign
[Note #] Indicates that the exact length of the title reign is unknown, with a note providing more details.
No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Event Notes Ref(s)
1 Masato Yakushiji 1 February 27, 1999 271 Nagoya, Japan Live event Defeated Rencor Latino to become the first champion. [1]
2 Virus 1 November 25, 1999 255 Tokyo, Japan Live event   [1]
3 Marvin, RickyRicky Marvin 1 August 6, 2000 [Note 2] Yokohama, Japan Live event   [4]
4 Virus 2 2000 [Note 3] [Note 4] Live event   [4]
5 Marvin, RickyRicky Marvin 2 November 29, 2000 [Note 1] Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico Live event   [4]
— Inactive — 2000 N/A N/A N/A Championship was abandoned when CMLL stopped promoting in Japan by the end of 2000. [4]
6 Havana Brother I 1 September 11, 2003 64 Mexico City, Mexico Live event Defeated Volador, Jr. in a tournament final. [3]
7 Virus 3 November 14, 2003 392 Mexico City, Mexico Live event   [3]
8 Romero, RockyRocky Romero 2 December 10, 2004 338 Mexico City, Mexico Live event Previously held the championship under the name Havana Brother I [5]
9 Tommy Williams 1 September 15, 2005 128 Los Angeles, CA Live event   [9]
10 Romero, RockyRocky Romero 3 January 21, 2006 1,168 Industry, California Live event Rocky Romero began working as "Grey Shadow" in early 2008 but the title was never officially vacated until Romero began working for Asistencia Asesoria y Administracion (AAA). [10]
— Vacated — April 3, 2009 N/A N/A N/A Championship confirmed vacated after Rocky Romero left CMLL. [13]
11 Máscara Dorada 1 April 7, 2009 730 Mexico City Mexico Arena México show Won a 10-man torneo cibernetico match over Angel Azteca, Jr., Rey Cometa, Pegasso, Ángel de Oro, Tiger Kid, Polvora, Inquisidor, Super Comando and Ángel de Plata [14]
— Vacated — April 7, 2011 N/A N/A N/A Championship vacated after Dorada moves up to the middleweight division [15]
12 Virus 4 June 7, 2011 1,398 Mexico City Mexico Arena México show Defeated Guerrero Maya, Jr. in a tournament final to win the vacant title. [6]
13 Dragon Lee 1 April 5, 2015 294 Mexico City Mexico Arena México show   [7]
14 Kamaitachi 1 January 24, 2016 40 Tokyo, Japan Fantastica Mania 2016   [19]
15 Dragon Lee 2 March 4, 2016 278+ Mexico City Mexico Super Viernes   [2]

List of combined reigns

Key
Symbol Meaning
† Indicates the current champion
¤ The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used.
Rank Wrestler # of reigns Combined days Ref(s).
1 Virus 4 2,046¤ [Note 3] [1][4][3][5][6][7]
2 Romero, RockyRocky Romero 3 1,570 [3][5][10][13]
3 Máscara Dorada 1 730 [14][15]
4 Dragon Lee † 2 572+ [7][19][2]
5 Masatu Yakushiji 1 271 [1]
6 Tommy Williams 1 128 [9][10]
7 Kamaitachi 1 40 [19][2]
8 Marvin, RickyRicky Marvin 2 2¤ [Note 1][Note 2] [4]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 The exact date CMLL stopped promoting the championship has not been verified, which means the title reign lasted between 1 day and 32 days.
  2. 1 2 The exact date Ricky Marvin lost the championship has not been verified, which means the title reign lasted between 1 day and 113 days.
  3. 1 2 The exact date Virus won the championship has not been verified, which means the title reign lasted between 1 day and 114 days.
  4. ↑ The championship information did not include the location of the match.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "JAPAN: CMLL Japan Super Lightweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Salazar, Alexis (March 4, 2016). "Resultados Arena México® – Viernes Espectaculares". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 SuperLuchas staff (January 5, 2003). "Número Especial - Lo mejr de la lucha ilbre mexicana durante el 2003". Super Luchas (in Spanish). 40.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "2000 Especial!". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish). January 9, 2001. pp. 2–28. issue 2488.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 SuperLuchas staff (January 24, 2005). "Número Especial - Lo mejr de la lucha ilbre mexicana durante el 2004". Super Luchas (in Spanish). 91.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Virus nuevo Campeón Ligero del CMLL". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. June 8, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Salazar López, Alexis (April 6, 2015). "Resultados Arena México Domingo 5 de Abril '15". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 6, 2015. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  8. ↑ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexic: CMLL Titles [Lutteroth]". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "2005 Lo Mejor de la Lucha Mexicana". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). January 3, 2006. 140.
  10. 1 2 3 4 SuperLuchas staff (December 23, 2006). "Lo Mejor de la Lucha Libre Mexicana duranted el 2006". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). 192. Retrieved July 11, 2009.
  11. ↑ "2007 Lo Mejor de la Lucha Mexicana". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). December 26, 2007. issue 244. Retrieved July 11, 2009.
  12. ↑ "Lo Mejor de la Lucha Libre Mexicana 2008". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). January 6, 2009. 296. Retrieved July 11, 2009.
  13. 1 2 3 Ovaciones staff (2009-04-03). "Double campeonato". Ovaciones (in Spanish). Mexico, D.F.: Editorial Ovaciones, S. A. de C.V. p. 17. Número 21543 Año LXII. Retrieved 2009-04-03.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Lo Mejor de la Lucha Libre Mexicana 2009". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). January 8, 2010. 348.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "Máscara Dorada renuncia al Campeonato Mundial Ligero". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. April 7, 2011. Archived from the original on April 8, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
  16. ↑ Arturo Montiel Rojas (2001-08-30). "Reglamento de Box y Lucha Libre Professional del Estado de Mexico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 30, 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-03. Articulo 242: Ligero 70 kilos / Super Ligero 73 kilos"
  17. ↑ "Dragon Lee". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  18. ↑ Ed Grabianowski. "How Pro Wrestling Works". How Stuff Works. Archived from the original on January 1, 1970. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
  19. 1 2 3 "NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania 2016". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved January 24, 2016.
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