CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship
Championship Name.
This championship has be referred to by multiple names during it's existence. It started as the CMLL Japan Super Lightweight Championship, for use by the promotion during it's tours of Japan. It returned in 2003 as the CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship. The name has more recently been streamlined to CMLL World Lightweight Championship during Virus' fourth reign.
Current Champion
Kawato San is the most recent champion. He defeated El Audaz on June 30, 2019 in Arena México for the vacant championship. Dragon Lee had relinquished the championship to concentrate for the CMLL World Welterweight Championship.
CMLL announced Kawato San vacated the championship on the November 5, 2019 edition of CMLL Informa. Kawato returned shortly after but did not compete for the championship again before returning to Japan. CMLL has subsequently not mentioned any plans for the championship, though any plans would've been thrown off by the coronavirus pandemic.
History of Championship
CMLL created a Super Lightweight championship to be fought for when they toured Japan in 1999 and 2000. The only champion was Masato Yakushiji, and the belt went unmentioned after CMLL stopped touring Japan.
CMLL brought back the Super Light (Super Ligero) championship in 2003 due to the strong positive reaction to a series of matches between the NJPW-LA Havana Brothers team and a CMLL tecnico trio of Ricky Marvin, Virus, and Volador Jr.. By creating a new CMLL Championship, they didn't need to take away a belt from a current champion and they could allow anyone to compete for the title, unlike the Mexican Championships.
The participants in the championship opening cibernetico were Super Comando, Loco Max, Sangre Azteca, Ricky Marvin, Tigre Blanco, Rocky Romero (as Havana Brother I), Ricky Reyes (as Havana Brother II(b)), Puma (as Havana Brother III), Neutron, Sombra de Plata, Volador Jr., and Virus. A heavily clipped version, showing only the final two eliminations, was shown on television.
Virus was quickly set up as the first challenger, and defeated Romero with little trouble. Only the last fall was shown on television. At that point, the NJPW-LA crew were done in CMLL, and the championship dropped to the level of the least visible CMLL Championships.
The championship appeared to be forgotten when Romero was brought to Arena Mexico with no previous buildup. Romero won the championship near the end of 2004, and the title appeared to leave CMLL, with no future Mexico title defenses scheduled at this time.
Tommy Williams won the championship from Romero in a 2005 Labor Day weekend show, though the results weren't well publicized at the time (it was only apparently when Williams was defending the championship on other shows much later.) Romero won the championship for the third time on an AWS show.
The championship continued to be inactive, even thru a multi-month stint of returning of to CMLL in 2008, this time as the masked Grey Shadow. The championship continued to be ignored after Romero jumped to AAA late in 2008.
In April 2009, out of the blue and clearly as filler for a fan appreciation day show, CMLL announced a tournament to decide a new champion. Young tecnico prospect Mascara Dorada won the championship. Dorada was a mid-level wrestler at the time of the championship cibernetico, and the clear favorite against a group of undercard wrestlers who were a position or two below him on the card at the time.
Mascara Dorada was scheduled to make his first defense in his hometown of Guadalajara on May 8, 2009, but the show was canceled due to flu outbreak. The defense against Virus took place in August instead. Dorada has defended it several times since, and the title has occasionally listed simply as the lightweight championship.
After five successful defenses, and winning and losing other championships, Mascara Dorada gave up this title on April 7, 2011 at a CMLL press conference. Dorada explained he was moving up in weight classes, including challenging Jushin Liger for the CMLL World Middleweight Championship in Japan in May. There was no announcement about what would become of this championship.
Champions Listing
Sources:
Gallery of Champions
 Masato Yakushiji, (1st) Champion |
 Virus, (2nd), (4th), & 7th Champion |
 Rocky Romero, 6th, 8th & 10th Champion |
 Mascara Dorada, 11th Champion |
 Virus, 12th Champion |
 Dragon Lee II, 13th & 15th Champion |
 Kamaitachi, 14th Champion |
