WWF Light Heavyweight Championship

[5.0] "This belt had a ton of potential. Outside of the WWE this belt was featured pretty well and had some interesting feuds and good matches. Problem was WWE did not care at all for it. Was mainly to compete with the WCW cruiserweight title when WWE started featuring it in 1997 but wasn't given near the amount of care that belt was."

[6.0] "To the credit of this title, it was held by very deserving wrestlers and was revered better in Mexico and Japan than it was in the U.S. - I give it a higher grade with that considered. That said, the belt went through some ups and downs regarding booking when presented in the WWE. There were some great wrestlers who held it at the end, and it eventually gave way to the WWE Cruiserweight Title (which is held in higher regard), but some of the "Crash TV" booking of the late 90s had it treated as a comedy title at times. Just the same, it was part of the J-Belt scene in the 90s before returning stateside, and would've warranted the same rating for its usage in Michinoku Pro, New Japan, and in Mexico due to either the level of popularity in MPW (where it was a top title) or the fact that it was a de facto vanity title when used in New Japan."

[3.0] "The history of this belt is more intriguing than the title itself, at least during it's time actually in the WWF. This was a belt that was created in partnership with the UWA, later on becoming a title in Michinoku Pro, before being returned to the company. There is a 16 year lineage spanning Mexico and Japan that they just straight up ignored when it was established once again in 1997. While I would love to rate this belt for it's entire 21 year history, and I have to assume that it was all round a decently booked belt in the companies it took place in (and it will always have it's connection to Ultimo Dragon at the end of the day), I don't think it's fair for me to give it a high rating on something I have no real opinion on to begin with. Besides, most people only know this belt for its time in the WWF, and it's a severe mixed bag. This company, whether it be when it was the WWF or the WWE, always had a problem with booking cruiserweight championships. Lack of care leads to an immediate glass ceiling, with the head of the company scratching his head, wondering why the belt isn't getting over at all. At least there are some good names attached to the belt, such as Dean Malenko, Jerry Lynn, X-Pac, Taka Michinoku, etc, but unfortunately this belt was severely devalued with it being completely forgotten and deemed as a joke belt around the waist of Duane Gill. Somehow never reached the levels of European belt, and that's just really sad."

[4.0] "The idea of a light heavyweight division in the WWF was great in theory as the company had a decent amount of guys to build the division around but it was clear pretty much from the start that Vince and co didn't care at all about this belt or anyone involved in the division. I guess it does get a few points for historical interest as the belt was a part of the legendary J-crown (i.e. the collection of 10 junior heavyweight belts that Ultimo Dragon famously held for a time) and for the occasional decent match that came out of the division (Malenko/Scotty being one of my favorites)."

[2.0] "A strong start with a cruiserweight tournament and Christian winning felt like a big moment, but they really did nothing with this. As Gillberg held it for far too long"

[6.0] "Quite different to what WCW were doing with their division at the time, but still this was a fun division, and a very nice looking belt too. I remembered always getting excited to see it... usually because the WWF (WWE) often forgot about it. Doesn't warrant this low score in my opinion."

[7.0] "The Light heavyweight division in the late 90s produced some of the most entertaining matches of the weekly shows IMO. The title was generally not cared too much about by the promotion, and the involved wrestlers were not always too over with the crowd. i still loved it."

[7.0] "7 out of 10 for me, I really liked this title and I wish there titles for every weight division, it wouldn't be a bad idea."

[6.0] "Lovely looking title that never really got started even at its peak and was pretty much always out of sight out of mind. Rarely featured on PPV after Christian defeated inaugural champion TAKA Michinoku, the title went on an unofficial hiatus under Gillberg (who to his credit would defend it regularly on his indie bookings) before spending virtually a year on Dean Malenko and eventually ending its life as a hot shotted title for Alliance angles until its unification with the WCW Cruiserweight title. The Light Heavyweight title essentially acted as a C-show title (commonly defended on Shotgun Saturday Night, Jakked and Heat) and the matches were commonly shorter but often of a good standard (which is to be expected with the standard of the talent). It remains a WWE career highlight for Jerry Lynn, Essa Rios, Scotty 2 Hotty, TAKA Duane Gill and Crash Holly as well as a fun footnote for Christian, X-Pac, Jeff Hardy and Tajiri who enjoyed greater successes elsewhere. Dean Malenko of course is world renowned talent and was able to dominate the division for the majority of his on-screen run. I think there's some potential in a C-Show tertiary title today, giving purpose and story to these matches that so many are languishing in."

[5.0] "I like the design of title except for the red leather, just go with black please. This title was never meant to be on WWF tv it was simply for Mexico and Japan companies to promote WWF, though alot of legendary wrestlers won this title when WWF wanted it back it was given to a guy they could job to bigger stars, poor Taka, they only brought this title back so they could compete with WCWs cruiserweight division, and then immediately gave up after"

[4.0] "The LHW Title has an interesting backstory, as a WWF-commissioned title that spent its first 16 years of existence outside the WWF in Japan and Mexico, becoming one of the eight titles unified as the J-Crown (during which time the belt appeared on WCW TV while the J-Crown and the WCW Cruiserweight Title were held by Ultimo Dragon! ), the belt was finally returned to its home promotion in 1997 as the WWF attempted to match WCW's Cruiserweight division. It had a decent start, with the newly-returned belt being won in a decent international tournament by Taka Michinoku, who had a solid "first" run with it. But the WWF was never as invested in its lightweight division as WCW was in its cruisers, and the belt disappeared once again while held by Gillberg, who spent all of 1999 defending it in independent promotions, before finally returning in 2000. Just prior and during the Invasion angle, it was held by notable and often great talents, such as Dean Malenko, Jerry Lynn, Jeff Hardy, Scotty 2 Hotty, Tajiri and X-Pac, but was generally treated as an afterthought (mostly being defended on Sunday Night Heat, Jakked and in preliminary Raw and Smackdown matches). After the Invasion was concluded, the belt was superfluous as the WWF now possessed WCW's more prestigious Cruiserweight Title, and after current LHW champ X-Pac won the Cruiserweight Title, the former was quietly retired."

[8.0] "The Light Heavyweight Championship was really fun concept that had really good matches but, was not treated as important. Edit: But, it gains importance from Mexico and being part of the J-Crown."

[8.0] "With a rich history dating back to 1981, and it being defended all over the world, with promotions as New Japan, Emll, and even WCW (J-crown). This title has been held by some of the all-time greats. Ultimo Dragon, Justin thunder liger, the Villiano's and even Chris benoit(Pegasus kid). Its re-emergence on WWF television in 1997, is not only what it should be remembered for, (as it was not very impressive) but as a title that was prestigious globally, even if not in the WWF. Let's hope the new wwe cruserwieght championship can last as long as it is the most exciting and skillful weight class in all of pro-wrestling."

[10.0] "Just like I said with the Cruiserweight title, some great matches were held all over the world because of titles like this. Personally, I like it better than the cruiserweight belt, but like they say "get what you get and don't throw a fit"."

[3.0] "Well... my rating might be pretty unfair to the old days of the title (which I don't know much about), but the WWF totally buried its history."

[5.0] "The title had a good history in its pre-WWF days, and the tournament and opening reign by Taka showed promise. Unfortunately it went downhill from there. The reign of Duane Gill was embarrassing, and after that the title was an afterthought. 5 points for the history, the final years really tarnished what could have been a good title."