The CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship was a
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
junior heavyweight championship owned by the
Combat Zone Wrestling
Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent wrestling promotion. In 1998, John Zandig and five of his students, Ric Blade, T.C.K, Lobo, Nick Gage and Justice Pain, along with trainer Jon Dahmer, began to run professional wrestling sh ...
(CZW)
promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
. The championship was created and debuted on February 19, 1999 at CZW's Opening Night
event
Event may refer to:
Gatherings of people
* Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion
* Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest
* Event management, the organization of eve ...
.
Only wrestlers under the junior heavyweight weight limit of may hold the championship.
Being a professional wrestling championship, the title is won via a scripted ending to a match or awarded to a wrestler because of a
storyline.
Overall, there have been 37 reigns shared among 26 wrestlers, with two
vacancies. The inaugural champion was The Sensational One, who was recognized as champion at CZW's Opening Night event.
Sabian Sabian may refer to:
*Sabians, name of a religious group mentioned in the Quran, historically adopted by:
**Mandaeans, Gnostic sect from the marshlands of southern Iraq claiming John the Baptist as their most important prophet
**Sabians of Harran, ...
and
Trent Acid
Michael Verdi (November 12, 1980 – June 18, 2010), best known by his ring name Trent Acid, was an American professional wrestler.
He worked as a tag team wrestler for most of his career, primarily as part of The Backseat Boyz with Johnny Kashm ...
are tied for the record of most reigns, with three each. At days,
Adam Cole
Austin Kirk Jenkins (born July 5, 1989) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Adam Cole. He is also known for his tenures with WWE and Ring of Honor (ROH).
Col ...
's only reign is the longest in the title's history. Cole holds the record for most days as champion as well. The Sensational One's first reign, along with
Sami Callihan
Samuel Alton Johnston (born September 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by the ring name Sami Callihan, currently signed with Impact Wrestling and is a former Impact World Champion. He also wrestled for Luch ...
and
Sonjay Dutt
Retesh Bhalla (born April 7, 1982) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a producer and manager. He is best known for his time with Total Nonstop ActionImpact Wrestling under the ring name Sonja ...
's second reigns share the record for shortest reign at less than one day. The title was retired on September 8, 2012, when reigning champion
A. R. Fox
Thomas James "T. J." Ballester (born September 5, 1987), better known by his ring name A. R. Fox, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling. He is also known for his work in promotions like Combat Zone Wrestlin ...
defeated
CZW Wired TV Champion Dave Crist
The Crist Brothers were an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers David Crist Jr. and John Crist, who are best known by their ring names Dave Crist and Jake Crist, they are best known for their time with Impact Wrestling ...
in a
ladder match
A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself becom ...
to unify the two titles, but the Junior Heavyweight Championship was revived on August 23, 2014.
History
The first champion was crowned on February 19, 1999 at CZW's first show, Opening Night. The Sensational One was recognized as champion by CZW. He went on to defend the title that night against Quicksilver, who defeated him to become the new champion.
As such, The Sensational One's first reign became the shortest reign in the title's history at less than one day, until September 9, 2006 when
Sonjay Dutt
Retesh Bhalla (born April 7, 1982) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a producer and manager. He is best known for his time with Total Nonstop ActionImpact Wrestling under the ring name Sonja ...
defeated
SeXXXy Eddy at CZW's Chri$ Ca$h Memorial Show – Down With The Sickness 2 event to become the new champion.
Dutt then went on to lose the title to
Jigsaw
Jigsaw may refer to:
* Jigsaw (tool), a tool used for cutting arbitrary curves
* Jigsaw puzzle, a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of interlocking pieces
Arts and media Comics
* Jigsaw (Marvel Comics), a supervillain and arch-enemy of ...
later that day at CZW's Expect the Unexpected show.
The title has changed hands four times outside of the United States. During
Trent Acid
Michael Verdi (November 12, 1980 – June 18, 2010), best known by his ring name Trent Acid, was an American professional wrestler.
He worked as a tag team wrestler for most of his career, primarily as part of The Backseat Boyz with Johnny Kashm ...
's first reign, he was defeated by Winger in
Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
on July 1, 2000 to mark the first instance. The second was also in Tokyo, with
Men's Teioh
(born December 16, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Men's Teioh (also written MEN's Teioh). The English translation of his ring name, Terry Boy, is a homage to American professional wrestler Terry Funk.
...
becoming the new champion on September 15, 2000. The third was in
Sapporo, Japan
( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...
on May 4, 2001, while the fourth was in
Yokohama, Japan
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
on August 19, 2001.
Jun Kasai
(born September 9, 1974) is a Japanese professional wrestler, primarily competing for Pro Wrestling Freedoms. Dubbed the for his violent and often self-harmful style of hardcore wrestling, Kasai is considered a breakthrough talent in Japanese w ...
won the title in Sapporo, while Acid reclaimed the title in Yokohama.
Following Acid's victory in Yokohama, the title was vacated for the first of two times. The vacancy was the result of a double pinfall in a match against
Ruckus for the championship on September 29, 2001 at CZW's Enough is Enough event.
Ruckus went on to win the vacant title in a
Three Way match that also involved Acid and Winger on December 2, 2001. The second vacancy was the result of CZW stripping
Chuck Taylor of the title on October 11, 2008.
Ryan McBride became the new champion on December 13, 2008 at CZW's Cage Of Death 10: Ultraviolent Anniversary show by defeating Pinkie Sanchez, Carter Gray,
Egotistico Fantastico
Robert Anthony (born June 11, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Egotistico Fantastico. He is the current NWA National Heavyweight Champion in his first reign. He has worked for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), ...
, and Dan Paysan in a Ultraviolent
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to win the vacant championship.
On May 8, 2010 at CZW's Fist Fight event,
Adam Cole
Austin Kirk Jenkins (born July 5, 1989) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Adam Cole. He is also known for his tenures with WWE and Ring of Honor (ROH).
Col ...
defeated then-CZW Junior Heavyweight Champion
Sabian Sabian may refer to:
*Sabians, name of a religious group mentioned in the Quran, historically adopted by:
**Mandaeans, Gnostic sect from the marshlands of southern Iraq claiming John the Baptist as their most important prophet
**Sabians of Harran, ...
to become the new champion.
Cole held the title for 553 days, the longest reign on record, before losing it to
Sami Callihan
Samuel Alton Johnston (born September 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by the ring name Sami Callihan, currently signed with Impact Wrestling and is a former Impact World Champion. He also wrestled for Luch ...
on November 12, 2011 at CZW's Night Of Infamy 10: Ultimatum event.
However, since August 23, 2014, Alexander James defended the title at CZW's events.
Reigns
Combined reigns
References
;General
*
;Specific
External links
CZWrestling.com
{{featured list
1999 in professional wrestling
Combat Zone Wrestling championships
Junior heavyweight wrestling championships
Hardcore wrestling championships