Yoshihiro Asai, better known by his ring name Último Dragón, is a Japanese professional wrestler and actor currently signed to Dragon Gate, where he acts as an in-ring talent, trainer and senior advisor. In addition to having trained in Japan, Asai learned to wrestle in the lucha libre style while working in Mexico. He is credited with popularizing the "Asai Moonsault".
The WWF Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Federation promotion. The title was challenged by light heavyweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs. It was created on March 26, 1981 for the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) in a partnership between the WWF and UWA. On 16 June 1995, the title moved to Michinoku Pro Wrestling, but due to WWF's ownership of the title, it was returned to the WWF in 1997, the year which WWE recognizes as the beginning of the championship's lineage. The inaugural champion in UWA was Perro Aguayo, however, the WWE considers the inaugural champion to be Taka Michinoku, with his reign beginning on December 7, 1997. It was retired on March 8, 2002 with X-Pac as the final champion.
A championship or title in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations. Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in predetermined rivalries. These narratives create feuds between the various competitors, which cast them as villains and heroes. The bookers in a company will place the title on the most accomplished performer, or whom they believe will generate fan interest in terms of event attendance and television viewership.
In professional wrestling, Cruiserweight is a weight class but also a term for a fast-paced, aerial-based style of performer. The term was first coined in the United States in 1996 by World Championship Wrestling. Prior to this, the terms "Light Heavyweight" and "Junior Heavyweight" were more commonly in use. The older term Junior Heavyweight is still favored in Japan, where many titles for lighter-weight competitors are called Junior Heavyweight titles. Prominent titles include New Japan Pro-Wrestling's IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, Pro Wrestling Noah's GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, and All Japan Pro Wrestling's World Junior Heavyweight championships.
Hiroaki Hamada, better known by his ring name Gran Hamada, is a Japanese professional wrestler, the first to adopt the high-flying Mexican lucha libre style. He has wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the Universal Wrestling Federation, Michinoku Pro and All Japan Pro Wrestling and was the founder of Universal Lucha Libre. He has also had stints with the World Wrestling Federation and Extreme Championship Wrestling in the United States. His daughters Xóchitl Hamada and Ayako Hamada are professional wrestlers.
Osamu Matsuda is a Japanese professional wrestler who is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and is better known by his stage name El Samurai.
The CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship promoted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) since 1991. As it is a professional wrestling championship, it is not won via legitimate competition; it is instead won via a scripted ending to a match or on occasion awarded to a wrestler because of a storyline. The official definition of the light heavyweight division in Mexico is between 92 kg (203 lb) and 97 kg (214 lb), but the weight limits are not always strictly adhered to. Because CMLL puts more emphasis on the lower weight classes, this division is considered more important than the heavyweight division, which is considered the most important championship by most promotions outside Mexico.
The UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship that was originally promoted by the Mexican lucha libre professional wrestling) promotion Universal Wrestling Association (UWA). the UWA operated from 1975 to 1995 but the title is still defended on the Mexican independent circuit after the UWA closed. The weight range for this championship is 97 kg (214 lb) to 107 kg (236 lb) but is not strictly enforced to these days. The UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship has also been promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling and was at one time one of the eight championships that made up the J-Crown Championship. Following the breakup of the J-Crown, the championship was used by the Toryumon promotion but has since then returned to Mexico where it's defended on the independent circuit.
The UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship is a singles professional wrestling championship initially promoted by the Mexican Lucha Libre wrestling based promotion Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) from 1975 until the UWA closed in 1995 and since then been defended on the Mexican independent circuit until 2007. By the year 2000 the title became a mainstay in Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) when it was won by El Zorro who worked for AAA. The official definition of the Light Heavyweight weight class in Mexico is between 92 kg (203 lb) and 97 kg (214 lb), but is not always strictly enforced.
The UWA World Lightweight Championship is an inactive professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican wrestling promotion Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) from 1975 until some time around 2000 when Kato Kung Lee, Jr. stopped defending it. The official definition of the lightweight weight class in Mexico is between 63 kg (139 lb) and 70 kg (150 lb), but the weight limits are not always strictly adhered to. The first champion was El Matematico, winning the title in December 1975. When the UWA closed in 1995 the title was vacated, but 2 years later it was brought back as an Independent circuit title when Kato Kung Lee, Jr. won it.
The UWA World Featherweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican wrestling promotion Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) from 1983 until the promotion closed in 1995. The official definition of the Featherweight weight class in Mexico is between 57 kg (126 lb) and 63 kg (139 lb), but is not always strictly enforced. the UWA World Featherweight Championship was not among the UWA titles that were kept active even after the UWA closed, like the UWA World Heavyweight Championship, but was abandoned when the UWA closed down.
The WWA World Light Heavyweight Championship is a singles professional wrestling championship promoted by World Wrestling Association (WWA) in Mexico since 1987. The official definition of the Light Heavyweight weight class in Mexico is between 92 kg (203 lb) and 97 kg (214 lb), but is not always strictly enforced.
Ismael Muñoz Lopez was a Mexican Luchador or professional wrestler best known under the ring name Alberto Muñoz. Muñoz was active from 1964 until the 1980s. Muñoz worked for most of his career using his real name, but in the 1970s he also wrestled as the enmascaradoWhite Man, teaming with Black Man to form a popular tag team. In his career Muñoz held several top championships promoted by Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL).
Jesús Reza Rosales is a Mexican Luchador, or professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Mano Negra. Mano Negra is Spanish for "The Black Hand" and is taken from the Spanish anarchist organisation La Mano Negra. Rosales is a former two time holder of the NWA World Welterweight Championship, two time holder of the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, and the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship while working for Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL). He also worked for the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) where he held the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship and for the World Wrestling Association (WWA) where he held the WWA Lightweight Championship. Mano Negra was originally an Enmascarado, or masked wrestler, but lost a Lucha de Apuesta, bet match, to Atlantis in the main event of CMLL's 60th Anniversary Show and was forced to unmask.
Admiral-Lord Mountevans rules were a set of professional wrestling rules mainly used in the United Kingdom in the second half of the 20th century. Introduced in 1947, they were named after Edward Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans, who ordered a unified set of rules written up for professional wrestling in the British Isles in order to re-legitimise professional wrestling in the eyes of the public and the press. Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom had become discredited before World War II due to the prominence of the preceding "All In" style, which came to emphasise an "anything goes" style of presentation. Professional wrestling promoters in the United Kingdom rallied behind the Mountevans rules and radically altered how professional wrestling was presented in the United Kingdom thereafter. The style of wrestling under the Mountevans rules was advertised by promoters as Modern Freestyle Wrestling.
The Mexican National Championships is a group of Lucha libre professional wrestling championships that are sanctioned by Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F.. While the Commission sanctions the championships, it does not promote the events in which the championships are defended. Being professional wrestling championships, they are not won legitimately; they are instead won via a scripted ending to a match or awarded to a wrestler or wrestlers as a result of a storyline. The earliest Mexican National Championship, the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship, was created as far back as 1926. The Mexican National Welterweight Championship crowned its first champion on June 17, 1934, making it the oldest, still active, professional wrestling championship. Eléctrico, the current Lightweight champion, is the longest reigning Mexican National Championship, having won the title on August 13, 2013. Atlantis, the reigning Light Heavyweight Champion, has the shortest active reign of any champion, having defeated Mephisto for the championship on August 25, 2015.
The Crash Cruiserweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship contested for in the Mexican lucha libre promotion The Crash Lucha Libre based in Tijuana, Baja California. Traditionally most lucha libre promotions promote a division labelled as the "Junior Heavyweight" division, while "Cruiserweight" is a term more used in the United States or Canada but The Crash uses the term "Cruiserweight". The official definition of the Cruiserweight class in Mexico is between 97 kg (214 lb) and 107 kg (236 lb), but is not always strictly enforced. As it was a professional wrestling championship, the championship was not won not by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match determined by the bookers and match makers. On occasion the promotion declares a championship vacant, which means there is no champion at that point in time. This can either be due to a storyline, or real life issues such as a champion suffering an injury being unable to defend the championship, or leaving the company.
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre is a Mexico City-based professional wrestling promotion. It was founded in 1933 and is the oldest active promotion in the world. In the company's long history it has promoted a number of professional wrestling championships as part of their shows, using various divisional, special stipulations, and weight-class championships. Over the years a total of nine CMLL championships have either been abandoned or control of the title was given to another promotion. CMLL actively promotes twelve world championships, seven national championships, and eight regional championships.
