List of CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champions

The CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship (Campeonato Mundial Semi Completo de CMLL in Spanish) is a singles professional wrestling world championship promoted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) since 1991. Being a professional wrestling championship, it is not won legitimately: it is instead won via a scripted ending to a match or awarded to a wrestler because of a storyline. 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.[Note 1][1] Because Lucha Libre emphasizes the lower weight classes, this division is considered more important than the normally more prestigious heavyweight division of a promotion.[2] All title matches take place under two out of three falls rules.

The first champion to be recognized by CMLL was Jerry Estrada, who defeated Pierroth, Jr. in the finals of a 16-man tournament that took place between September 15 and September 26, 1991.

Ángel de Oro is the current CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion in his first reign, after defeating Rey Escorpión on October 28, 2014.[3] Overall, there have been sixteen reigns shared among thirteen wrestlers. As of June 26, 2009, Dr. Wagner, Jr. and Atlantis are the only two wrestlers to have held the title twice; Dr. Wagner, Jr. is listed as an unofficial three-time champion, but he is not recognized as such by CMLL.[Note 2] Jerry Estrada's reign is the shortest reign, at 175 days, while Último Guerrero has held it the for the longest period, at 1,309 days. Aquarius' unofficial title reign is the shortest on record, 8 days, but is not acknowledged by CMLL.

Title history

Key
# The overall championship reign
Reign The reign number for the specific wrestler listed
Event The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands
+ Indicates that the number of days held by this individual changes every day
# Wrestler Reign Date Days held Location Event Notes
1 Jerry Estrada 1 September 26, 1991 175 Cuernavaca, Mexico Live event Defeated Pierroth, Jr. in a tournament final
2 Pierroth, Jr. 1 March 19, 1992 379 Cuernavaca, Mexico Live event  
3 Dr. Wagner, Jr. 1 April 2, 1993 334 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
4 Atlantis 1 March 2, 1994 655 Acapulco, Mexico Live event  
5 Dr. Wagner, Jr. 2 December 17, 1995 1,240 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
# Aquarius 1 July 19, 1996 8 Tokyo, Japan Live event Title change is not officially recognized by CMLL
5 Dr. Wagner, Jr. 2 July 27, 1996 1,240 Sapporo, Japan Live event CMLL does not recognize Dr. Wagner, Jr. as a three-time champion as they do not recognize Aquarius' title win.
6 Atlantis 2 May 10, 1999 196 Puebla, Mexico Live event  
7 Villano III 1 November 22, 1999 685 Tampico, Mexico Live event  
8 Shocker 1 October 7, 2001 432 Guadalajara, Mexico Live event [4]
9 Último Guerrero 1 December 13, 2002 1,309 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event [5]
10 Rey Bucanero 1 July 14, 2006 3,089 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event [6]
11 Ephesto 1 May 26, 2009 2,098 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event [7]
12 Rush 1 February 22, 2011 693 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event [8]
— Vacated — January 15, 2013 — Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event Rush vacated the title to get a match for the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship.[9]
13 Rey Escorpión 1 January 29, 2013 637 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event Defeated Volador Jr. in a tournament final.[10]
14 Ángel de Oro 1 October 28, 2014 185+ Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event [3]

Championship reigns by length

Key
† Indicates the current champion
+ Indicates that the number of days held by this individual changes everyday.
Rank Wrestler No. of reigns Combined days
1 Wagner, Jr., Dr.Dr. Wagner, Jr. 2 1,574
2 Último Guerrero 1 1,309
3 Rey Bucanero 1 1,263
4 Ephesto 1 1,002
5 Atlantis 2 851
6 Rush 1 693
7 Villano III 1 685
8 Rey Escorpión 1 637
9 Shocker 1 432
10 Pierroth, Jr. 1 379
11 Estrada, JerryJerry Estrada 1 175
12 Ángel de Oro † 1 185+
13 Aquarius 1 8

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The most recent case of this is Mephisto's holding the NWA World Welterweight Championship, a belt with a 78 kg (172 lb) upper limit despite weighing 90 kg (200 lb).
  2. ↑ Before the Internet made information readily available on a global scale, it was not uncommon for championships to be lost and won back during a tour of a foreign country without being recognized by the promotion.

References

General reference for championship history before 2000
  • Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "MEXICO: CMLL EMLL Light Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 395. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
Specific
  1. ↑ Arturo Montiel Rojas (2001-08-30). "Reglamento de Box y Lucha Libre Professional del Estado de Mexico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 30, 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-03. Articulo 242: "Super medio 92 kilos / Semi Completo 97 kilos"
  2. ↑ Madigan, Dan (2007). ""Okay... what is Lucha Libre?"". Mondo Lucha a Go Go: the bizarre& honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperColins Publisher. pp. 29–40. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Granados, Sandra (October 29, 2014). "Resultados Arena México Martes 28 de Octubre '14". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  4. ↑ Luchas 2000 staff. "Luchas 2000". Villano III: El Ultimo Rey (in Spanish) (Ciudad Juárez, Mexico: Publicaciones citem, S.A. de C.V.). pp. 1–35. Especial 37.
  5. ↑ Enciclopedia staff (December 2007). "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Último Guerrero (in Spanish) (Mexico). pp. 55–56. Tomo V.
  6. ↑ Arturo Rosas Plata (May 26, 2009). "Lleva 15 defensas". Ovaciones (in Spanish) (Mexico, D.F.: Editorial Ovaciones, S. A. de C.V.). p. 22. Número 21598 Año LXII. Retrieved June 22, 2009.
  7. ↑ Autorito Rosas Plata (May 27, 2009). "Ephesto aplasta a Bucanero". Ovaciones (in Spanish) (Mexico, D.F.: Editorial Ovaciones, S. A. de C.V.). p. 24. Número 21599 Año LXII. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
  8. ↑ Ruiz Glez, Alex (February 23, 2011). "Arena México (resultados 22 de febrero) ¡Rush nuevo campeón mundial semicompleto del CMLL" (in Spanish). SuperLuchas Magazine. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Rush renunció al Campeonato Semicompleto del CMLL". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). January 16, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  10. ↑ Mexicool, Rey (January 29, 2013). "Rey Escorpión… ¡nuevo monarca mundial semicompleto del CMLL!" (in Spanish). SuperLuchas Magazine. Retrieved January 30, 2013.