Following the title's introduction in 1991, a tournament was held to determine the first champion. On October 27, Brian Pillman beat Richard Morton in the tournament final to win the title. However, it was vacated on September 2, 1992, due to Brad Armstrong's knee injury during his reign. Then, on March 20, 1996, Shinjiro Ohtani beat Chris Benoit in another tournament final to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. 