Date established February 15, 1992 Date won May 3, 2016 | Current champion(s) Mephisto First champion(s) Fuerza Guerrera | |
 | ||
Promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Most reigns Máscara Dorada (4 times) | ||
The CMLL World Welterweight Championship (Spanish: Campeonato Mundial de Peso Welter del CMLL) is a professional wrestling championship in the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). The official definition of the welterweight division in Mexico is between 70 kg (150 lb) and 78 kg (172 lb) but the official weight limits are not always adhered to. As with other professional wrestling championships, it is not won or lost competitively but is instead scripted by the bookers of a wrestling promotion. The title is awarded after the chosen wrestler "wins" a match.
Contents
Overall there have been a total of 32 official championship reigns, shared between 20 different wrestlers. Mephisto is the current and 32nd champion, having won the championship on May 3, 2016. Máscara Dorada is the first and only wrestler to hold the championship four times. Mephisto's first reign was the longest individual reign, for 1,141 days from 2004 to 2007. The championship has been defended in Mexico and Japan, with three title changes in Japan. The championship has been vacated twice, and CMLL has held three tournaments for the championship.
History
In the late 1980s CMLL left the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), but retained control of the NWA World Welterweight Championship as their main championship of the welterweight division. They also promoted the Mexican National Welterweight Championship as a secondary title in the Welterweight division. In 1991 they decided to create a series of CMLL-branded world championships, one of which was for the welterweight division. They held a four-man tournament on February 15, 1992, to crown the first welterweight champion. The participants were Fuerza Guerrera, El Felino, América and El Khalifa; in the finals, Fuerza Guerrera defeated El Khalifa to become the first champion. On July 16, 1992, the Mexican National Welterweight Champion defeated CMLL Welterweight Champion América, vacating the Mexican National Welterweight Championship. In 1993 control of the Mexican National Welterweight Championship was transferred from CMLL to rival promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA).
In 1996 the championship was vacated after then-champion El Pantera lost the championship to Super Delfin while on tour in Japan. Pantera left CMLL for AAA after the tour, and lost a match to Super Delfin in Japan, intending to surrender the championship to him. CMLL knew that Pantera was leaving and nullified the championship change, choosing not to vacate the title rather than recognizing the title change. CMLL put together a 16-man tournament to crown a new champion, and Máscara Mágica defeated El Felino in the final to become the seventh official CMLL World Welterweight Champion. Máscara Mágica would later defeat Super Delfin to put an end to any questions about the lineage of the championship. In 1998 the Mexican National Welterweight Championship was returned to CMLL, making it a tertiary title behind the CMLL and NWA branded world championships. In 2010 CMLL returned the NWA World Welterweight Championship to the NWA, but immediately replaced it with the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship.
From the unrecognized title change on March 15, 1996, until January 2011, when Ryusuke Taguchi won the championship in Tokyo, all championship matches took place in Mexico. In early 2015 it was announced that then-champion Máscara Dorada had signed a contract to work for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) for a year, taking the championship with him to Japan. During his tour of Japan Máscara Dorada lost the championship to Bushi, which was officially acknowledged by CMLL.
Reigns
The Championship is designated as a welterweight title, which means that the championship can officially only be competed for by wrestlers weighing between 70 kg (150 lb) and 78 kg (172 lb). In the 20th century Mexican wrestling enforced the weight divisions more strictly, but in this century the rules have occasionally been ignored for some weight divisions. The heaviest welterweight champion on record is Olímpico who was announced as weighing 92 kg (203 lb), 14 kg (31 lb) above the maximum weight limit. While the heavyweight championship is traditionally considered the most prestigious weight division in professional wrestling, CMLL places more emphasis on the lower weight divisions. All title matches promoted in Mexico take place under best two-out-of-three falls rules, while championship matches promoted in Japan follow the local custom, decided by a single fall.
Mephisto is the current and two-time champion after defeating Máscara Dorada at a CMLL show in Arena Mexico May 3, 2016. He is the 32nd overall champion. El Felino has the longest combined reigns at 1,186 days, divided over three separate reigns. Mephisto has the longest individual reign of all champions at 1,141 days from 2004 to 2007. The first champion Fuerza Guerrera is also the person who has held the title the shortest time, 22 days, except possibly for Mascara Magica, whose second reign was shorter; no specific date for the start of the reign has been confirmed, so his reign may have been as short as 6 days.
1992
On February 15, 1992 CMLL held a one-night, four-man tournament to crown the first ever CMLL World Welterweight Champion. The welterweight championship was the fifth CMLL branded world championship created after the CMLL World Heavyweight, CMLL World Light Heavyweight, CMLL World Trios and CMLL World Middleweight Championship. In the tournament finals Fuerza Guerrera defeated El Khalifa to win the championship.
1996
In 1996 CMLL decided not to acknowledge that La Pantera had lost the CMLL World Welterweight Championship during a tour of Japan, declaring the title vacant instead. They held a 16-man tournament from May 7 to May 21, 1996, to crown a new champion. In the finals Máscara Mágica defeated El Felino to become the seventh champion.
2014-2015
On May 2, 2015, then-reigning CMLL World Welterweight Champion Místico crashed his motorcycle, breaking the fibula and tibia in his right leg. He had surgery the following day. Due to the injury the Welterweight championship became inactive for several months, as Místico was unable to compete. During a press conference on November 19, 2014, Místico announced that he was not ready to return to the ring, which led to the CMLL World Welterweight Championship being declared vacant. On December 26, 2014, CMLL held a 10-man Torneo cibernetico elimination match to determine the next champion. Negro Casas and Máscara Dorada outlasted the other eight competitors; Delta, Fuego, Kamaitachi, Pólvora, Rey Cometa, Sangre Azteca, Titán and Tritón. A week later Máscara Dorada defeated Negro Casas to become the 29th CMLL World Heavyweight Champion.