In 1996, WCW held a tournament to name the first WCW Cruiserweight champion and though the title was won in Japan by Shinjiri Otani, it was soon back in the States and remained a hot potato, until the company's death in 2001. In only five years, this belt went from everything from being WCW premier workrate title to being an utter joke in the Russo-era. The first match is yet another Malenko-Mysterio battle and those are always pretty fun. Then we have two switches between Dean and the Ultimate Dragon, which are the creme de la creme of this tape. Finally the nWo's Syxx gets the belt and keeps it for the bulk of the year. So we pick things up with heel champ, Chris Jericho, who really showed the division could do angles and so fourth to add more heat to the fine ringwork. Jericho wins the title, which he would hold for most of the year, from Mysterio. He goes head-to-head with Dean Malenko twice and finally with a returning Rey Mysterio Jr. While not a complete history of the title, it focuses on two of it's hot periods in late `96 with great matches and in mid-98 with great heat.

1. Dean Malenko vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. (Halloween Havoc `96)
The fifth (I think) match between these two with a little more storyline involved after the challenger stole the luchador's sacred mask. Malenko gets the early offense, but the fans are solidly behind Rey Jr. who looks dead-on with his moves. "The Man of 1000 Holds" and "The Human Highlight Reel" do their typical schtick with Mysterio taking a beating and while this provides a good wrestling match, it takes the crowd out of it. The last leg of this gets the crowd up though with all of Mysterio's highflying hope spots and the action is excellent. Finally Dean pulls out a Super Doctor Bomb for the win and to a surprisingly big pop.
Rating: ***

2. Ultimate Dragon vs. Dean Malenko (Starrcade `96)
The J-Crown holder versus the Cruiserweight champion, the later belt which could (but wouldn't either way) become part of the Crown. The crowd really isn't into the match for a while as it is largely Malenko working over Ultimo's knee early on. They get into the highspots big-time, but the heat is pretty inconsistant. The last leg gets them going though with hot nearfalls, but the finish is sort of flat as it is very New Japan. The match itself was quite good with better matwork than many cruiser matches and very limited highflying.
Rating: ***1/4

3. Dean Malenko vs. Ultimate Dragon (Clash of the Champions XXXIV)
After a brief "USA" chant, things pick up right were they left off at Starrcade. Dragon works on Malenko's knee, which is funny because it was the other way around before. After a short offense, Dragon starts with the kicks. The crowd is definitely into everything Malenko does as he takes apart the knee again. They pick it up with a fast sequence and then Dragon gets in his highspots. Malenko comes back and slaps on his Texas Cloverleaf to a huge pop and regains his Cruiserweight title.
Rating: ***1/2

4. Dean Malenko vs. Syxx (SuperBrawl VII)
The first time we really saw the intense Dean Malenko, a character that was excellent because he was rarely used. He opens up the match with mostly brawling and power moves. He aggressively targets the knee, before Syxx gets in his first bit of offense. The nWo's Cruiserweight goes after Dean's neck fairly well. Then Eddy Guerraro gets involved when Syxx tries to grab Malenko's belt. His help backfires and the nWo picks up and belt they really have no right to have. Syxx was really hit-and-miss in WCW and Malenko saved this thing from being a bad match.
Rating: **3/4

5. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. (Souled Out `98)
Jericho, who'd just begun his great heel run in WCW and was just finding his legs. Mysterio was just coming back from his first knee injury and has a brace on. Jericho attacks the knee reasonably well, Rey sells it wonderfully. Mysterio battles back with most of his signauture spots, before Jericho counters a springing top rope rana and slaps on the Liontamer. Junior taps instantly and Jericho wins clean. He does a great post-match promo talking about how the fans love him, which they don't. He answers their boos by attacking Rey's knee violently and that's that. This was a very good match and really turned Jericho fully. Solid psychology, good heat and it perpuated the story well.
Rating: ***1/4

6. Dean Malenko vs. Chris Jericho (Slamboree `98)
After berating Malenko on WCW TV during his hiatus, Jericho was perpared to face the winner of a 14-man battle royal immediately after. Cocky and jovial, Jericho did hilarious intros for all of the entrants. As the battle royal drew to a close it wound up with Ciclope and the recently unmasked Juventud Guerrara. Juvi lets Ciclope win, but he unmasks as Dean to a big pop. Jericho is forced to wrestle the man he wasn't expecting to see and Malenko is running on emotions. A lot of intense brawling early and the fans love it. Jericho finally turns it around and seems to have things in tow. Dean finally turns it around with a high-impact Super Gutbuster and locks on the Texas Cloverleaf. Jericho tries to fight it, but Malenko fights harder and gets the win to a huge ovation. Not the same technique as a regular Cruiserweight match, but a lot of intensity and excitement foreign to the division. A very heated fundamentally sound match and that's about it.
Rating: ***

7. Chris Jericho vs. Dean Malenko (Great American Bash `98)
Malenko vacated his title to get another shot at Jericho, which was a cleverly and well-built up match and probably the most angle-driven Cruiserweight feud. Jericho complete in his "1,004" tights gets the heat early and the feeling out is more heated. Dean grinds away, while Jericho is arrogant when on the offensive. Unfortunately the crowd seems to lose interest though the psychology is very good: intense Malenko versus overconfident Jericho. The pacing is almost nonchalant, which is perfect, but doesn't tickle the crowd right. The crowd digs the highspots and not the slow pace, unfortunately this isn't into it, until Dean fights through a Liontamer and when he applies the Cloverleaf. The crowd is really up for the last leg as Jericho slaps Malenko and says, "you're nothing just like your dead father." Dean goes beserk and gets himself DQ'd, which pisses off the fans. They battle up the aisle, backstage and finally outside, where Jericho escapes across the street and into a building. Terribly inconsistant heat and an unsatisfactory finish after a well organized match.
Rating: **3/4

8. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. (No Counts Outs, No DQs) (Bash at the Beach `98)
After worming his way out of facing Dean Malenko at the third straight PPV, Jericho comes to the ring with a cane and top hat ready to sing and dance, but J.J. Dillion interrupts him. It is a local guy, who hasn't wrestled in six months and Jericho agress...it is Rey Mysterio Jr. and he's bigger and badder. His early offense is quite good, Jericho finally clips the knee though and starts with the ready-made psychology. Rey hits a flying rana off the lifeguard tower on the mini-beach near the entrance. Back inside Jericho continues on the knee, until Malenko comes down and Rey turns the Liontamer into a cradle for the win! Big pop for that and Dean has his way with Jericho afterwards, which the crowd enjoys as well. Mysterio is back and the Cruiserweight champ.
Rating: ***