Ranking every WWE Cruiserweight Champion from worst to best
2. Buddy Murphy
Buddy Murphy’s run from early 2018 to date will go down as one of the best comeback’s WWE history. No one on the roster benefitted more from the jump to 205 Live than “The Best Kept Secret.”
Last year, the former NXT Tag Team Champion dropped 25 pounds and joined the cruiserweight division, where he quickly made an impact. In April, he attacked the new champion, Cedric Alexander, to stake his claim on a shot at the title.
Although Murphy unsuccessful challenged Alexander in May, their feud culminated in an unforgettable win in Buddy’s hometown of Melbourne, Australia. At Super Show-Down, he made history as the first Australian man to hold a WWE championship. It was even more special because it was his first singles title win with the company since he debuted in 2013.
Murphy went on a tear in the following month as a dominant champion, who reigned for 183 days—the second-longest tenure in the title’s history.
1. Neville
Who else could be number one, other than the self-proclaimed “King of the Cruiserweights?”
After a phenomenal run on NXT, Neville debuted on the main roster in March of 2015. Unfortunately, he didn’t enjoy the same success on Raw, and he eventually disappeared from WWE programming in the fall of 2016.
“The Man That Gravity Forgot” reemerged in December at Roadblock: End of the Line, where he turned heel and attacked Rich Swann and T.J. Perkins. He eventually defeated Swann at Royal Rumble 2017 to become the new champion.
Neville’s reign defined the title in its infancy, and he became the best villain in the entire for a stretch. He had some great feuds with Swann, Jack Gallagher, and Austin Aries as the longest reigning – and the first two-time – WWE Cruiserweight Champion.
Frankly, he made the belt matter and he did everything he could to drag the Cruiserweight division out of obscurity before he left WWE in October of 2017. You can still see the influences from his last year with the company in his current work as PAC with AEW and Dragon Gate.
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That’s our list. Be sure to drop a comment below and let us know who your favorite Cruiserweight Champion is.