Light Heavyweight Championship Recognition by the UWA/NJPW
# Wrestlers Reign# Date Days held Location Event Notes
1 Perro Aguayo 1 March 26, 1981 183 Shimizu, Japan Live event Aguayo defeated Gran Hamada in a tournament final for the title. 2 Fishman 1 September 25, 1981 15 Los Angeles, CA Live event Perro Aguayo 2 October 10, 1981 8 Los Angeles, CA Live event 4 Chris Adams 1 October 18, 1981 56 Mexico City, Mexico Live event 5 Perro Aguayo 3 December 13, 1981 129 Mexico City, Mexico Live event 6 Gran Hamada 1 April 21, 1982 130 Tokyo, Japan Live event 7 Perro Aguayo 4 August 29, 1982 203 Mexico City, Mexico Live event 8 Villano III 1 March 20, 1983 140 Mexico City, Mexico Live event 9 Perro Aguayo 5 August 7, 1983 254 Mexico City, Mexico Live event 10 Gran Hamada 2 April 17, 1984 33 Tokyo, Japan Live event 11 Villano III 2 May 20, 1984 826 Mexico City, Mexico Live event 12 Fishman 2 August 24, 1986 122 Mexico City, Mexico Live event 13 Perro Aguayo 6 December 24, 1986 130 Mexico City, Mexico Live event — Vacated 0 May 3, 1987 0 N/A N/A The UWA forced Aguayo to relinquish the championship after a title defense against Villano III ended in controversy. 14 Villano III 3 June 17, 1987 109 Mexico City, Mexico Live event Villano III defeated Perro Aguayo in a rematch for the title. 15 Rambo 1 October 4, 1987 281 Mexico City, Mexico Live event 16 Villano III 4 July 11, 1988 399 Mexico City, Mexico Live event 17 Sangre Chicana 1 August 14, 1989 62 Mexico City, Mexico Live event 18 Perro Aguayo 7 October 15, 1989 49 Mexico City, Mexico Live event 19 Sangre Chicana 2 December 3, 1989 175 Mexico City, Mexico Live event 20 Villano III 5 May 27, 1990 280 Naucalpan, Mexico Live event 21 Pegasus Kid 1 March 3, 1991 560 Naucalpan, Mexico Live event 22 Villano III 6 September 13, 1992 110 Naucalpan, Mexico Live event 23 El Signo 1 January 1, 1993 563 Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico Live event 24 Villano III 7 July 18, 1994 167 Puebla, Mexico Live event — Vacated 0 January 1995 0 N/A N/A After Villano III signed a contract with the PROMELL promotion, he was forced to vacate the championship by the UWA. 25 Aero Flash 1 June 16, 1995 282 Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico Live event Aero Flash won the title in a tournament final. 26 The Great Sasuke 1 March 24, 1996 90 Shirakawa, Japan Live event 27 El Samurai 1 June 22, 1996 43 Naruko, Japan Live event 28 The Great Sasuke 2 August 4, 1996 68 Tokyo, Japan Live event 29 Último Dragón 1 October 11, 1996 85 Osaka, Japan Live event 30 Jushin Liger 1 January 4, 1997 183 Tokyo, Japan Wrestling World 31 El Samurai 2 July 6, 1997 35 Sapporo, Japan Live event 32 Shinjiro Otani 1 August 10, 1997 87 Nagoya, Japan Live event Otani was the final wrestler in the UWA to hold the title before it was returned to the WWF. Recognition by the WWF
# Wrestler Reigns Date Days held Location Event Notes
33 Taka Michinoku 1 December 7, 1997 315 Springfield, MA In Your House: D-Generation X Michinoku defeated Brian Christopher in a tournament final to win the title. 34 Christian 1 October 18, 1998 30 Chicago, IL Judgment Day: In Your House This was Christian's first match in the company. 35 Gillberg 1 November 17, 1998 453 Columbus, OH Raw is War Longest reigning champion under the WWF banner. 36 Essa Rios 1 February 13, 2000 29 Austin, TX Sunday Night Heat 37 Dean Malenko 1 March 13, 2000 35 East Rutherford, NJ Raw is War 38 Scotty 2 Hotty 1 April 17, 2000 10 State College, PA Raw is War 39 Dean Malenko 2 April 27, 2000 322 Charlotte, NC SmackDown! This title change aired on tape delay. 40 Crash Holly 1 March 13, 2001 47 Anaheim, CA Sunday Night Heat 41 Jerry Lynn 1 April 29, 2001 37 Chicago, Il Sunday Night Heat 42 Jeff Hardy 1 June 5, 2001 20 Grand Forks, ND SmackDown! This title change aired on tape delay. 43 X-Pac 1 June 25, 2001 42 New York City, NY Raw is War 44 Tajiri 1 August 6, 2001 13 Anaheim, CA Raw is War 45 X-Pac 2 August 19, 2001 91 San Jose, CA SummerSlam X-Pac was the final wrestler to hold the title before it was replaced by the WWF Cruiserweight Championship A title unification match at Survivor Series (2001) between WCW Cruiserweight Champion Tajiri and WWF Light Heavyweight Champion X-Pac was canceled because X-Pac was injured; shortly after the Light Heavyweight Championship became inactive.
