List of NXT Cruiserweight Champions

The NXT Cruiserweight Championship (originally known as the WWE Cruiserweight Championship from 2016 to 2019) is a former professional wrestling championship that was created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. Before its retirement, it was defended on the NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live brands. It was contested exclusively for wrestlers with a maximum bill weight of 205 lb (93 kg), referred to as cruiserweights. During its tenure, it was the only WWE championship with a weight limit.

"List of WWE Cruiserweight Champions" redirects here. For the historical championship, see List of WWE Cruiserweight Champions (1996–2007).
Inaugural champion T. J. Perkins

Established as the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, the title was originally part of the Raw brand and defended on Monday Night Raw until the premiere of 205 Live, after which, it was defended on both shows until WrestleMania 34. Following this event, 205 Live became its own brand and the title became exclusive to 205 Live until October 2019 when it began to be defended on NXT. The title was subsequently renamed to NXT Cruiserweight Championship.[1][2][3] In January 2020, the title was extended to NXT's sister brand NXT UK.[4]

The championship was generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants executed scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. The inaugural champion was T. J. Perkins, who was awarded the title for winning the Cruiserweight Classic on September 14, 2016. Carmelo Hayes is recognized as the final champion. He defeated Roderick Strong on the special New Year's Evil episode of NXT 2.0 on January 4, 2022, to unify the title with the NXT North American Championship; the Cruiserweight Championship was immediately retired following his win.

Throughout the championship's short history, there were 20 reigns between 18 champions and one vacancy. The oldest champion was Roderick Strong, winning the title at 38 years old, while the youngest champion was Lio Rush when he won it at 24. Neville and Enzo Amore were tied for the most reigns at two. Jordan Devlin's sole reign was the longest reign at 439 days, while final champion Carmelo Hayes' singular reign was the shortest at less than a minute as the title was immediately retired after he won it in a title unification match.

Reigns

Names
Name Years
WWE Cruiserweight Championship September 14, 2016 – October 2, 2019
NXT Cruiserweight Championship October 2, 2019 – January 4, 2022

Reigns
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Days recog. Number of days held recognized by the promotion
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign DaysDays recog.
WWE: Raw
1 T. J. Perkins September 14, 2016 Cruiserweight Classic Finale Winter Park, FL 1 4645 Before the finale of the Cruiserweight Classic, WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H revealed that the winner would also win the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Championship for WWE's revived cruiserweight division exclusive to the Raw brand. T. J. Perkins defeated Gran Metalik in the tournament final to become the inaugural champion. [5]
2 The Brian Kendrick October 30, 2016 Hell in a Cell Boston, MA 1 3030 [6]
3 Rich Swann November 29, 2016 205 Live Columbia, SC 1 6160 This was the inaugural episode of 205 Live. [7]
4 Neville January 29, 2017 Royal Rumble San Antonio, TX 1 197196 [8]
5 Akira Tozawa August 14, 2017 Raw Boston, MA 1 65 [9]
6 Neville August 20, 2017 SummerSlam
Kickoff		 Brooklyn, NY 2 3535 [10]
7 Enzo Amore September 24, 2017 No Mercy Los Angeles, CA 1 1515 [11]
8 Kalisto October 9, 2017 Raw Indianapolis, IN 1 1312 This was a lumberjack match. [12]
9 Enzo Amore October 22, 2017 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs Minneapolis, MN 2 9392 [13]
— Vacated January 23, 2018 — — — —— Vacated due to Enzo Amore's release from WWE one day after it was confirmed that Amore was under investigation for an alleged sexual assault that was reported to the police in October 2017. [14][15]
10 Cedric Alexander April 8, 2018 WrestleMania 34
Kickoff		 New Orleans, LA 1 181180 Defeated Mustafa Ali in a tournament final to win the vacant championship.
The title then became exclusive to the 205 Live brand.		 [16]
WWE: 205 Live
11 Buddy Murphy October 6, 2018 Super Show-Down Melbourne, Australia 1 183183 [17]
12 Tony Nese April 7, 2019 WrestleMania 35
Kickoff		 East Rutherford, NJ 1 7777 [18]
13 Drew Gulak June 23, 2019 Stomping Grounds
Kickoff		 Tacoma, WA 1 108108 This was a triple threat match also involving Akira Tozawa, whom Gulak pinned.
In October 2019, the title became shared between 205 Live and NXT, and it was renamed the NXT Cruiserweight Championship.		 [19][3]
WWE: NXT and 205 Live
14 Lio Rush October 9, 2019 NXT Winter Park, FL 1 6363 [20]
15 Angel Garza December 11, 2019 NXT Winter Park, FL 1 4544 [21]
16 Jordan Devlin January 25, 2020 Worlds Collide Houston, TX 1 439438 This was a fatal four-way match also involving Travis Banks and Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, whom Devlin pinned. With Devlin's win, the title was extended to the NXT UK brand. Devlin's reign ended on April 8, 2021 at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 2, when Santos Escobar defeated him to determine the undisputed champion. From May 27, 2020 (aired June 3) until April 8, 2021, both Devlin and Escobar were recognized as champion. [4][22]
WWE: NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live
17 El Hijo del Fantasma/Santos Escobar May 27, 2020 NXT Winter Park, FL 1 321313 Due to a travel ban as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, an interim champion was crowned in the United States until Jordan Devlin could return; Devlin, who resided in the United Kingdom, still defended the title on NXT UK while the U.S.-based interim champion defended the title on NXT. Fantasma defeated Drake Maverick in the finals of an eight-man tournament to become the interim champion in the U.S. WWE recognizes his reign as beginning on June 3, 2020, when the episode aired on tape delay.

On the June 10 episode, Fantasma unmasked and changed his ring name to Santos Escobar.
After Devlin made his return to the U.S. the following year, Escobar defeated Devlin in a ladder match at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 2 on April 8, 2021 to determine the undisputed champion (recognized as a continuation of his reign as interim champion).

 [23][24][22]
18 Kushida April 13, 2021 NXT Orlando, FL 1 161160 [25]
19 Roderick Strong September 21, 2021 NXT 2.0 Orlando, FL 1 105105 [26]
20 Carmelo Hayes January 4, 2022 New Year's Evil Orlando, FL 1 <1<1 This was a title unification match, in which Hayes also defended the NXT North American Championship. [27]
— Unified January 4, 2022 New Year's Evil Orlando, FL — —— Carmelo Hayes defeated Roderick Strong to unify the NXT Cruiserweight Championship into the NXT North American Championship. The Cruiserweight Championship was retired with Hayes going forward as North American Champion. [27]

Combined reigns
Neville (left) and Enzo Amore (right) tied the record for most reigns at two
Longest reigning champion Jordan Devlin, who held the title for 439 days
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns		 Combined
days		 Combined days
rec. by WWE
1 Jordan Devlin1439438
2 El Hijo del Fantasma/Santos Escobar1321313
3 Neville2232231
4 Buddy Murphy1183
5 Cedric Alexander1181180
6 Kushida1161160
7 Enzo Amore2108107
Drew Gulak1108
9 Roderick Strong1105
10 Tony Nese177
11 Lio Rush163
12 Rich Swann16160
13 T. J. Perkins14645
14 Angel Garza14544
15 The Brian Kendrick130
16 Kalisto11312
17 Akira Tozawa165
18 Carmelo Hayes1<1

References
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  3. Nash, Anthony (October 2, 2019). "Cruiserweight Championship Gets Renamed, Defended Next Week On NXT". Wrestle Zone. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  4. Powell, Jason. "WWE Worlds Collide results: Powell's live review of Undisputed Era vs. Imperium, Rhea Ripley vs. Toni Storm for the NXT Championship, Angel Garza vs. Isaiah Scott vs. Travis Banks vs. Jordan Devlin for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Finn Balor vs. Ilja Dragunov, DIY vs. Moustache Mountain". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  5. Caldwell, James. "9/14 WWE Cruiserweight Tourney Finals – Caldwell's Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  6. Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE Hell in a Cell 2016 live review: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte for the WWE Women's Championship, Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship, Roman Reigns vs. Rusev for the U.S. Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
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  11. Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE No Mercy 2017 live review: Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman for the WWE Universal Championship, John Cena vs. Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins vs. Sheamus and Cesaro for the Raw Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
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  15. Enzo Amore released from WWE after Allegations of sexual assault - Sky Sports.com
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  17. Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE Super Show-Down live review: Undertaker vs. Triple H for the final time, AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe in a no DQ, no count-out match for the WWE Title, The Shield vs. Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre, and Dolph Ziggler, Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte for the Smackdown Women's Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
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  19. Powell, Jason. "WWE Stomping Grounds Kickoff Show results: Powell's live review of the pre-show". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
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  21. Moore, John. "12/11 NXT TV results: Moore's live review of Finn Balor vs. Keith Lee vs. Tommaso Ciampa in a Triple Threat for a shot at the NXT Championship, Lio Rush vs. Angel Garza for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Dakota Kai vs. Mia Yim". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
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