History
In mid-2016, WWE held the Cruiserweight Classic, a tournament for wrestlers 205 lb (93 kg) and under, billed as cruiserweights, that aired on the WWE Network.[5] Tournament qualifying matches took place in various promotions of the independent circuit, including well known promotions such as Revolution Pro Wrestling, Progress Wrestling, and Evolve. Many cruiserweight wrestlers from around the world were given the chance to qualify for the 32-man single-elimination tournament, which took place over four dates: June 23, July 13, August 26, and September 14.[6]
The final of the Cruiserweight Classic came down to T. J. Perkins and Gran Metalik. Before the final match, WWE executive Triple H revealed that the winner would not only receive a trophy but would also become the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Champion for the revived cruiserweight division for the promotion's Raw brand. Perkins defeated Metalik to become the inaugural champion.[7][8]
Originally, the championship was defended exclusively on Monday Night Raw. On November 29, 2016, a cruiserweight-exclusive show entitled 205 Live premiered on the WWE Network.[9] On the premiere episode, Rich Swann defeated The Brian Kendrick to win the championship.[10] The title then became defended on both Raw and 205 Live. In early 2018, Triple H was given creative control over 205 Live, as he had with the NXT brand, and began restructuring the show. Following WrestleMania 34, 205 Live became its own brand where the title became exclusively defended. Although the title became exclusive to 205 Live, it was still defended on WWE's main pay-per-views alongside Raw and SmackDown.[3]
After then-champion Enzo Amore was released from WWE on January 23, 2018, and the title was vacated,[11][12] it was announced that a general manager would be appointed for 205 Live and would address the championship.[13] On the January 30 episode of 205 Live, Drake Maverick (formerly known as Rockstar Spud in Impact Wrestling) was appointed as the 205 Live General Manager. Maverick announced that there would be a 16-man single-elimination tournament to crown a new WWE Cruiserweight Champion, with the finals to occur on the WrestleMania 34 Kickoff pre-show. The tournament came down to Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali, where Alexander defeated Ali to win the vacant championship.[14]
Prior to NXT moving to the USA Network in September 2019, NXT head Triple H spoke with Newsweek and said that "You'll start to see 205 [Live] begin to become part of NXT". He said that 205 Live's talent would start moving towards NXT, that 205 Live had "become lost in [the] limbo", and that the Cruiserweight Championship would have more meaning on NXT where it could create more opportunities for the cruiserweight wrestlers.[15] It was then reported that the NXT Creative Team would be in charge of 205 Live.[16] The following month, the title was renamed to the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, becoming part of the NXT brand, and started being defended on the NXT show.[17]
On October 18, 2019, Drake Maverick—who himself was drafted to SmackDown but remained as the General Manager of 205 Live—announced that following the 2019 WWE Draft, he had made a talent exchange agreement with NXT General Manager William Regal, whereby NXT's cruiserweight wrestlers could also wrestle on 205 Live.[18][19] With Jordan Devlin's win at Worlds Collide on January 25, 2020, the title also became shared with the NXT UK brand.[20]
Due to the COVID-19 lockdown in Ireland, reigning champion Jordan Devlin was unable to travel outside of his home country and defend the title. On April 8, 2020, NXT General Manager William Regal announced a tournament to crown an interim champion in the United States which would begin on the April 15 episode of NXT. Devlin responded by stating that whoever won was a fraud, and that he would prove that he was the only true NXT Cruiserweight Champion upon his return.[21][22] The interim championship tournament was won by Santos Escobar, who used his prior persona El Hijo del Fantasma during the tournament.[23] After the travel ban was lifted, Devlin made his return to the U.S. on the March 17, 2021, episode of NXT and confronted Escobar over who the real champion was. Escobar then challenged Devlin to a match at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver to determine the undisputed NXT Cruiserweight Champion.[24] The match was subsequently scheduled as a ladder match on Night 2 of the event on April 8.[25] At the event, Escobar defeated Devlin to become the undisputed champion, ending Devlin's reign at 439 days while continuing Escobar's.
Although the championship was established exclusively for cruiserweight wrestlers, this ruling was lifted once for a match at NXT WarGames on December 5, 2021. Joe Gacy, who weighed 245 lbs, felt that the championship weight shamed wrestlers who were above the weight limit. Reigning NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong allowed Gacy to challenge for the title at WarGames, with Gacy proclaiming that if he won the title, he would make it an all-inclusive championship.[27][28] At the event, however, Strong retained.[29]
In January 2022, the championship was unified into the NXT North American Championship. At the special New Year's Evil episode of NXT 2.0 on January 4, 2022, North American Champion Carmelo Hayes defeated reigning Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong to unify the titles with Hayes recognized as the final champion and going forward as North American Champion.[30][31][32]
Inaugural tournament (2016)
The Cruiserweight Classic was a professional wrestling tournament, where all participants were billed at a weight of 205 lbs or less, to determine the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Champion for WWE's revived cruiserweight division. Tournament qualifying matches took place in various promotions of the independent circuit, including well-known promotions such as Revolution Pro Wrestling, Progress Wrestling, and Evolve.
Interim championship tournament (2020)
An eight-man round-robin tournament began on April 15, 2020, to determine the interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion after Jordan Devlin was unable to defend the title due to COVID-19 pandemic-related travel restrictions. The participants were split into two groups of four. The wrestlers with the best record in each group then competed to determine the interim champion. Any ties were broken by head-to-head results.[33][34]
