{"id":6517,"date":"2017-07-18T22:43:45","date_gmt":"2017-07-19T02:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=6517"},"modified":"2017-07-18T22:44:05","modified_gmt":"2017-07-19T02:44:05","slug":"ot-fernandez-bringing-back-glory-wwc-jr-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2017\/07\/18\/ot-fernandez-bringing-back-glory-wwc-jr-title\/","title":{"rendered":"OT Fernandez: Bringing back glory to WWC\u2019s Jr. Heavyweight Title"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Junior\u00a0Heavyweight\u00a0Championship<\/strong>\u00a0has had a weird mark in wrestling. Almost every big promotion has a championship of this kind, with a weight limit of 205 or 220, displaying young, up and coming talent and being the usual openers for every event.<\/p>\n

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Photo: NJPW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is a championship subject of appreciation. New Japan<\/strong> gives their belt a lot of recognition and big profile matches, recently KUSHIDA<\/strong> and Hiromu Takahashi<\/strong> have taken the division to new levels. WWE<\/strong> has a solid champion in Neville<\/strong>, but has one of the worst shows in the WWE Network<\/strong> around the division. Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL)<\/strong> is one of the more active promotions to bring prestige to the title, with them having different titles within the division (welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight).<\/p>\n

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Many other promotions have their version of the title and the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico is one of them. The WWC Junior Heavyweight Championship<\/strong> is one of the oldest championships in wrestling right now. The Championship was created in 1974 when Carlos Colon<\/strong> had a new promotion in the island, the Capitol Sports Promotion<\/strong>. Even the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship<\/strong> is younger that the WWC Junior Title. The strap has been hold by the likes of Gerald Brisco<\/strong>, Rey Mysterio<\/strong>, Carlos Colon<\/strong>, Carlito<\/strong>, Ron Starr<\/strong>, Steve Corino<\/strong> and the list goes on and on.<\/p>\n

The State of the WWC Junior Heavyweight Tittle <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Since its creation, the Championship has been used to create new stars or to feature them. The title was the first step of every great wrestler in the island to climb the ladder, eventually, the Universal Championship being the goal. For years, every wrestler that won the Universal Championship was reminded of his up comings in the Junior Division. Even former WWE United States Champion<\/strong> Carlito (son of WWC\u2019s owner) had to win the Junior Heavyweight championship to climb the ranks in WWC.<\/p>\n

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16x WWC Jr Heavyweight Champion Tommy Diabo (Photo: Contralona PR)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In recent years, the meaning of the title has been diminished and instead of a step, it was deemed as a footprint of never doing anything further in the promotion. Just looking at Tommy Diablo\u2019s<\/strong> 16 reigns with the title makes someone ask themselves, how many times did Tommy needed to prove that he was ready for bigger things? The Title was even used as a way to punish people for not \u201cdelivering\u201d in the mid-card o upper mid-card, with Angel Fashion<\/strong> being relegated in the Junior division when WWC\u2019s directives didn\u2019t see hope in the young star.<\/p>\n

It was said that if you win the Junior Heavyweight Championship, probably in the future, you would be a WWC Universal Champion<\/strong>. But\u2026 the last time that someone in the company had won the Junior Title and later, in less than 5 years, the Universal title, was BJ in 2010. BJ in 2007 had won the Junior Championship and kept climbing the ladder. It has been 7 years since we have seen progress between both titles.<\/p>\n

A new star wants to bring back its glory <\/strong><\/h2>\n

In recent months, the Junior Heavyweight title has seen a new spark of light beneath its old strap. A young promise in the island, OT Fernandez<\/strong> has brought a new chapter to the title, with him going to Arena Mexico<\/strong> to showcase his reign and even defending the title in the United States against Aero Boy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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OT Fernandez won the Junior Title in March, with him defeating Angel Fashion and now having a great run with the Championship. In midst\u00a0 of all the bad news that WWC has had, from having their biggest star in Mr. 450<\/strong> leaving for the WWL<\/strong> and then in this summer having very low gates in their show, OT Fernandez\u2019s run has something to have hope on. Fernandez has defended the championship against very good opposition, with him having bouts against former champions Angel Fashion, Angel Cotto<\/strong> and Peter the Bad Romance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n