WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship

Last updated
WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship
Wwwf junior heavyweight championship belt 01.jpg
WWF-Junior.JPG
WWWF Junior Heavyweight Championship belt (top)
WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship belt (bottom)
Details
Promotion World Wrestling Federation (WWF)
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
Date established1965
Date retiredOctober 31, 1985
Other name(s)
  • WWWF Junior Heavyweight Championship
Statistics
Most reigns Johnny De Fazio
(4 reigns)
Longest reign Tatsumi Fujinami
(789 days)
Shortest reign Ryuma Go
(2 days)

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 1967 through 1985.

Contents

History

Tiger Mask with the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, 1982 Tiger Mask, 1982.png
Tiger Mask with the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, 1982

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

Over 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.

Key
No.Overall reign number
ReignReign number for the specific champion
DaysNumber of days held
No.ChampionChampionship changeReign statisticsNotesRef.
DateEventLocationReignDays
1Paul DeGallesSeptember 1965 House show [Note 1] 1 [Note 2]   
2 Johnny De Fazio October 15, 1965 House show Pittsburgh, PA 1 [Note 3]   
3Jackie Nicholas [Note 4] House show New England 1 [Note 3]   
4 Johnny De Fazio [Note 4] House show [Note 1] 2 [Note 3]   
5Jackie Nicholas [Note 4] House show [Note 1] 2 [Note 3]   
6 Johnny De Fazio [Note 4] House show [Note 1] 3 [Note 3]   
7Jackie 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 13Defeated Tony Garea to reestablish the title in the WWWF. 
10 Tatsumi Fujinami January 23, 1978WWWF New York, NY 1617Fujinami moved to New Japan Pro-Wrestling with the championship. 
11 Ryuma Go October 2, 1979Bloody Fight Series Osaka, Japan 12 
12 Tatsumi Fujinami October 4, 1979Bloody Fight Series Tokyo, Japan 2789 
Vacated December 1, 1981 Tatsumi Fujinami entered the heavyweight division, thus the championship was vacated. 
13 Tiger Mask January 10, 1982New Year Super Fight Tokyo, Japan 1119Defeated Dynamite Kid for the vacant championship. 
Vacated April 30, 1982The championship was vacated after Tiger Mask suffered an injury. 
14 Black Tiger May 6, 1982Big Fight Series 1982 Fukuoka, Japan 120Defeated Gran Hamada in a decision match to win the vacant championship. [1]
15 Tiger Mask May 26, 1982Big Fight Series 1982 Osaka, Japan 2312  [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, 1983Tercera Confrontacion Mexico – Japan Mexico City, Mexico 360Defeated Fishman in decision match to win the vacant championship. 
Vacated August 12, 1983The championship was vacated due to Tiger Mask retirement.. 
17 Dynamite Kid February 7, 1984New Year Golden Series 1984 Tokyo, Japan 1273Won a tournament final match over The Cobra to win the vacant championship. [3]
Vacated November 6, 1984The 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 1143Defeated Black Tiger to win the vacant championship. 
19 Hiro Saito May 20, 1985IWGP & WWF Championship Series Hiroshima, Japan 169 
20 The Cobra July 28, 1985Burning Spirit in Summer Osaka, Japan 295 [4]
DeactivatedOctober 31, 1985The championship was vacated and abandoned when New Japan and the WWF split. 

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The location of the match was not captured in any known documentation.
  2. The exact date DeGalles won the championship is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 15 and 44 days.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The length of the championship reign is too uncertain to calculate.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The date of the match was not captured in any known documentation.

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References

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