The WWWF/WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship is a former championship recognized by the World (Wide) Wrestling Federation and New Japan Pro-Wrestling for wrestlers of smaller size. The title existed from 1965 through 1985.
| WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||
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 WWWF Junior Heavyweight Championship belt (top) WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship belt (bottom) | |||||||||
| Details | |||||||||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Federation (WWF) New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) | ||||||||
| Date established | 1965 | ||||||||
| Date retired | October 31, 1985 | ||||||||
| Other name(s) | |||||||||
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History
edit
In April 1994, the WWWF championship belt was used as a trophy for the first ever Super J-Cup, which was won by Wild Pegasus.
Reigns
editOver the championship's 20-year history, there were 20 reigns between 11 champions. Johnny De Fazio has the most reigns at four times. Tatsumi Fujinami's second reign it the longest at 789 days, while Ryuma Go's reign was the shortest at two days. The Cobra was the final champion.
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | ||||
| 1 | Paul DeGalles | September 1965 | House show | [Note 1] | 1 | [Note 2] | ||
| 2 | Johnny De Fazio | October 15, 1965 | House show | Pittsburgh, PA | 1 | [Note 3] | ||
| 3 | Jackie Nicholas | [Note 4] | House show | New England | 1 | [Note 3] | ||
| 4 | Johnny De Fazio | [Note 4] | House show | [Note 1] | 2 | [Note 3] | ||
| 5 | Jackie Nicholas | [Note 4] | House show | [Note 1] | 2 | [Note 3] | ||
| 6 | Johnny De Fazio | [Note 4] | House show | [Note 1] | 3 | [Note 3] | ||
| 7 | Jackie Nicholas | [Note 4] | House show | [Note 1] | 3 | [Note 3] | ||
| 8 | Johnny De Fazio | [Note 4] | House show | [Note 1] | 4 | [Note 3] | ||
| — | Vacated | 1972 | — | — | — | — | Johnny De Fazio vacated the championship in 1972 upon retirement. | |
| 9 | Carlos Jose Estrada | January 20, 1978 | House show | Uniondale, NY | 1 | 3 | Defeated Tony Garea to reestablish the title in the WWWF. | |
| 10 | Tatsumi Fujinami | January 23, 1978 | WWWF | New York, NY | 1 | 617 | Fujinami moved to New Japan Pro-Wrestling with the championship. | |
| 11 | Ryuma Go | October 2, 1979 | Bloody Fight Series | Osaka, Japan | 1 | 2 | ||
| 12 | Tatsumi Fujinami | October 4, 1979 | Bloody Fight Series | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 789 | ||
| — | Vacated | December 1, 1981 | — | — | — | — | Tatsumi Fujinami entered the heavyweight division, thus the championship was vacated. | |
| 13 | Tiger Mask | January 10, 1982 | New Year Super Fight | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 110 | Defeated Dynamite Kid for the vacant championship. | |
| — | Vacated | April 30, 1982 | — | — | — | — | The championship was vacated after Tiger Mask suffered an injury. | |
| 14 | Black Tiger | May 6, 1982 | Big Fight Series 1982 | Fukuoka, Japan | 1 | 20 | Defeated Gran Hamada in a decision match to win the vacant championship. | [1] |
| 15 | Tiger Mask | May 26, 1982 | Big Fight Series 1982 | Osaka, Japan | 2 | 312 | [2] | |
| — | Vacated | April 3, 1983 | — | — | — | — | Tiger Mask was injured by the Dynamite Kid in a tag team match two nights before. On the same April 3, Dynamite Kid and Kuniaki Kobayashi fought for the title and no winner was declared. | |
| 16 | Tiger Mask | June 13, 1983 | Tercera Confrontacion Mexico – Japan | Mexico City, Mexico | 3 | 60 | Defeated Fishman in decision match to win the vacant championship. | |
| — | Vacated | August 12, 1983 | — | — | — | — | The championship was vacated due to Tiger Mask retirement.. | |
| 17 | Dynamite Kid | February 7, 1984 | New Year Golden Series 1984 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 273 | Won a tournament final match over The Cobra to win the vacant championship. | [3] |
| — | Vacated | November 6, 1984 | — | — | — | — | The championship was vacated after Dynamite Kid left Japan to join the WWF full time, and became a tag team wrestler. | |
| 18 | The Cobra | December 28, 1984 | WWF on MSG Network | New York City, NY | 1 | 143 | Defeated Black Tiger to win the vacant championship. | |
| 19 | Hiro Saito | May 20, 1985 | IWGP & WWF Championship Series | Hiroshima, Japan | 1 | 69 | ||
| 20 | The Cobra | July 28, 1985 | Burning Spirit in Summer | Osaka, Japan | 2 | 95 | [4] | |
| — | Deactivated | October 31, 1985 | — | — | — | — | The championship was vacated and abandoned when New Japan and the NWA NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship | |
See also
editFootnotes
edit- ^ a b c d e f The location of the match was not captured in any known documentation.
- ^ The exact date DeGalles won the championship is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 15 and 44 days.
- ^ a b c d e f g The length of the championship reign is too uncertain to calculate.
- ^ a b c d e f The date of the match was not captured in any known documentation.
References
edit- ^ F4W Staff (May 6, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 6): Verne Gagne Vs. Danny Hodge, 1st Annual Von Erich Parade of Champions show". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ F4W Staff (May 26, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 26): Dick the Bruiser & Crusher beat Larry Hennig & Harley Race in a nine fall death match, Tiger Mask wins WWF Jr. Heavyweight gold". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Hoops, Brian (February 7, 2017). "On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 7): Bobby Roode & Austin Aries wins tag gold". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
- ^ Hoops, Brian (July 28, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (July 28): Lou Thesz wrestles the husband of the world's greatest all-time female athlete". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.