WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship

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 1965 through 1985.

WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship
WWWF Junior Heavyweight Championship belt (top)
WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship belt (bottom)
Details
PromotionWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF)
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
Date established1965
Date retiredOctober 31, 1985
Other name(s)
  • WWWF Junior Heavyweight Championship
Statistics
Most reignsJohnny De Fazio
(4 reigns)
Longest reignTatsumi Fujinami
(789 days)
Shortest reignRyuma Go
(2 days)

History
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
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Paul DeGalles September 1965 House show [Note 1] 1 [Note 2]    
2 Johnny De Fazio October 15, 1965 House show Pittsburgh, PA 1 [Note 3]    
3 Jackie Nicholas [Note 4] House show New England 1 [Note 3]    
4 Johnny De Fazio [Note 4] House show [Note 1] 2 [Note 3]    
5 Jackie Nicholas [Note 4] House show [Note 1] 2 [Note 3]    
6 Johnny De Fazio [Note 4] House show [Note 1] 3 [Note 3]    
7 Jackie 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 1 3 Defeated Tony Garea to reestablish the title in the WWWF.  
10 Tatsumi Fujinami January 23, 1978 WWWF New York, NY 1 617 Fujinami moved to New Japan Pro-Wrestling with the championship.  
11 Ryuma Go October 2, 1979 Bloody Fight Series Osaka, Japan 1 2  
12 Tatsumi Fujinami October 4, 1979 Bloody Fight Series Tokyo, Japan 2 789  
— Vacated December 1, 1981 — — — — Tatsumi Fujinami entered the heavyweight division, thus the championship was vacated.  
13 Tiger Mask January 10, 1982 New Year Super Fight Tokyo, Japan 1 119 Defeated Dynamite Kid for the vacant championship.  
— Vacated April 30, 1982 — — — — The championship was vacated after Tiger Mask suffered an injury.  
14 Black Tiger May 6, 1982 Big Fight Series 1982 Fukuoka, Japan 1 20 Defeated Gran Hamada in a decision match to win the vacant championship. [1]
15 Tiger Mask May 26, 1982 Big Fight Series 1982 Osaka, Japan 2 312   [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, 1983 Tercera Confrontacion Mexico – Japan Mexico City, Mexico 3 60 Defeated Fishman in decision match to win the vacant championship.  
— Vacated August 12, 1983 — — — — The championship was vacated due to Tiger Mask retirement..  
17 Dynamite Kid February 7, 1984 New Year Golden Series 1984 Tokyo, Japan 1 273 Won a tournament final match over The Cobra to win the vacant championship. [3]
— Vacated November 6, 1984 — — — — The 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 1 143 Defeated Black Tiger to win the vacant championship.  
19 Hiro Saito May 20, 1985 IWGP & WWF Championship Series Hiroshima, Japan 1 69  
20 The Cobra July 28, 1985 Burning Spirit in Summer Osaka, Japan 2 95 [4]
— Deactivated October 31, 1985 — — — — The championship was vacated and abandoned when New Japan and the WWF split.  

See also

Footnotes
  1. 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. The length of the championship reign is too uncertain to calculate.
  4. The date of the match was not captured in any known documentation.

References
  1. F4W Staff (May 6, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 6): Verne Gagne Vs. Danny Hodge, 1st Annual Von Erich Parade of Champions show". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  2. F4W Staff (May 26, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 26): Dick the Bruiser & Crusher beat Larry Hennig & Harley Race in a nine fall death match, Tiger Mask wins WWF Jr. Heavyweight gold". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  3. Hoops, Brian (February 7, 2017). "On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 7): Bobby Roode & Austin Aries wins tag gold". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  4. Hoops, Brian (July 28, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (July 28): Lou Thesz wrestles the husband of the world's greatest all-time female athlete". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
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