UWA World Lightweight Championship

The UWA World Lightweight Championship (Campeonato Mundial de Peso Ligero UWA in Spanish) is an inactive professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican wrestling promotion Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) from 1975 until some time around 2000 when Kato Kung Lee, Jr. stopped defending it. The official definition of the lightweight weight class in Mexico is between 63 kg (139 lb) and 70 kg (150 lb), but the weight limits are not always strictly adhered to.[a][1] The first champion was El Matematico, winning the title in December 1975. When the UWA closed in 1995 the title was vacated, but 2 years later it was brought back as an Independent circuit title when Kato Kung Lee, Jr. won it.

UWA World Lightweight Championship
The original championship belt
Details
PromotionUniversal Wrestling Association (UWA)
Date establishedDecember 21, 1975
Current champion(s)Kato Kung Lee, Jr.
Date wonMay 9, 1997
Statistics
First champion(s)El Matematico
Most reignsEl Hijo del Santo (3 reigns)
Longest reignKato Kung Lee, Jr. (967 days)
Shortest reignRocky Santana(7 days)

As it was a professional wrestling championship, the championship was not won not by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match determined by the bookers and match makers.[b] On occasion the promotion declares a championship vacant, which means there is no champion at that point in time. This can either be due to a storyline,[c] or real life issues such as a champion suffering an injury being unable to defend the championship,[d] or leaving the company.[e]

Title history

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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  El Matematico  December 21, 1975  UWA Show Pachuca, Mexico  1  373 Defeated Hashi Masataka to become first champion. [f][7]
 2  El Signo  December 28, 1976  UWA Show Mexico City  1  436 [f][7]
Vacated  March 19, 1978 Championship vacated for undocumented reasons [f][7]
 3  Black Man  September 10, 1978  UWA Show Mexico City  1  1,116 Defeated El Matematico to win the title. [f][7]
 4  Black Terry  September 30, 1981  UWA Show Mexico City  1  [g] [f][7][8]
 5  Negro Casas  January 1984  UWA Show Mexico City  1  [h] [f]/>[7]
 6  El Hijo del Santo  October 28, 1984  UWA Show Mexico City  1  249 [f][7]
 7  Aristotle I  July 14, 1985  UWA Show Mexico City  1  49 [f][7][9]
 8  El Hijo del Santo  September 1, 1985  UWA Show Mexico City  2  693 [f][7][9]
 9  Espanto Jr.  July 26, 1987  UWA Show Torreon, Mexico  1  280 [f][7]
 10  El Hijo del Santo  May 1, 1988  UWA Show Naucalpan, State of Mexico  3  [i] [f][7]
Vacated  January 1991 Championship vacated when El Hijo del Santo moves up to the Welterweight division [f][7][10]
 11  Lasser  February 5, 1991  UWA Show Puebla, Puebla  1  579 Defeated El Khalifa in the finals of a 24-man championship tournament to win the vacant title. [f][7][10]
 12  Rocky Santana  September 6, 1992  UWA Show Tokyo, Japan  1  7 The first major title defence ever held outside Mexico. [f][7]
 13  Lasser  September 9, 1992  UWA Show Sapporo, Japan  2  50 [f][7]
 14  Cassandro  October 29, 1992  UWA Show Toluca, Mexico  1  593 [f][7]
 15  Semanarista  June 14, 1994  UWA Show Querétaro, Mexico  1  100 [f][7][11]
 16  Loco Valentino  September 22, 1994  UWA Show Tulancingo, Mexico  1  [j] [f][7][11]
Vacated  1995 Championship vacated when the UWA Closes [f][7][12]
 17  Kato Kung Lee Jr.  May 9, 1997  Live event Tulancingo, Mexico  1  967+ Kato Kung Lee Jr. wins the vacant title which had been inactive for two years.

Footnotes

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  1. ^ The most recent case of this is Mephisto, who holds the CMLL World Welterweight Championship, a belt with a 78 kg (172 lb) upper limit despite weighing 90 kg (200 lb).
  2. ^ Hornbaker (2016) p. 550: "Professional wrestling is a sport in which match finishes are predetermined. Thus, win–loss records are not indicative of a wrestler's genuine success based on their legitimate abilities – but on now much, or how little they were pushed by promoters"[2]
  3. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 271, Chapter: Texas: NWA American Tag Team Title [World Class, Adkisson] "Championship held up and rematch ordered because of the interference of manager Gary Hart"[3]
  4. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 20, Chapter: (United States: 19th Century & widely defended titles – NWA, WWF, AWA, IW, ECW, NWA) NWA/WCW TV Title "Rhodes stripped on 85/10/19 for not defending the belt after having his leg broken by Ric Flair and Ole & Arn Anderson"[4]
  5. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 201, Chapter: (Memphis, Nashville) Memphis: USWA Tag Team Title "Vacant on 93/01/18 when Spike leaves the USWA."[5]
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Duncan & Will (2000) p. 398, Chapter: MEXICO: UWA World Lightweight Title [Flores, Mora] [6]
  7. ^ The exact date on which Black Terry lost the championship is unknown, placing the title reign between 823 and 853 days.
  8. ^ The exact date on which negro Casas won the championship is unknown, placing the title reign between 271 and 301 days.
  9. ^ The exact date on which El Hijo del Santo vacated the championship is unknown, placing the title reign between 975 and 1,005 days.
  10. ^ The exact date on which the championship was is unknown, placing the title reign between 101 and 465 days.

References

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  • Hornbaker, Tim (2016). "Statistical notes". Legends of Pro Wrestling - 150 years of headlocks, body slams, and piledrivers (Revised ed.). New York, New York: Sports Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61321-808-2.
  • Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  1. ^ Arturo Montiel Rojas (August 30, 2001). "Reglamento de Box y Lucha Libre Professional del Estado de Mexico" (PDF). Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 30, 2006. Retrieved April 3, 2009. Articulo 242: "Pluma 63 kilos / Ligero 70 kilos"
  2. ^ Hornbaker 2016, p. 550.
  3. ^ Duncan & Will 2000, p. 271.
  4. ^ Duncan & Will 2000, p. 20.
  5. ^ Duncan & Will 2000, p. 201.
  6. ^ Duncan & Will 2000, p. 398.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "U.W.A. World Lightweight Title". Wrestling Titles.com. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  8. ^ "1981 Especial!". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish). January 7, 1981. pp. 2–28. issue 1501.
  9. ^ a b "1985 Especial!". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish). January 7, 1985. pp. 2–28. issue 17080.
  10. ^ a b "1991 Especial!". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish). January 9, 1991. pp. 2–28. issue 2020.
  11. ^ a b "1994 Especial!". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish). January 8, 1994. pp. 2–28. issue 2176.
  12. ^ "1995 Especial!". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish). January 9, 1995. pp. 2–28. issue 2228.
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