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24-484: The title was introduced on February 6, 1986, at a NJPW show . From August 5, 1996, until November 5, 1997, the title was part of the J-Crown , or J-Crown Octuple Unified Championship. The J-Crown was an assembly of eight different championships from several different promotions. It was created on August 5, 1996, when The Great Sasuke won an eight-man tournament. The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship,

48-635: A 1999 house show in Toronto . If there is a title change, the title usually changes back during the same show or at another show on the loop before another televised event, like several titles changes of the WWE Hardcore Championship or when Booker T and Chris Benoit traded the WCW World Television Championship back-and-forth on several house shows, with Booker (the official champion) always having

72-399: A live audience, and with the increase in number of pay-per-view events held by promotions, angles are now typically developed during weekly shows, and resolved during the next pay-per-view (or, on occasion, a special episode of the series), rendering house shows to be mostly minor events with no long-term story significance. Since house shows are not televised, promotions do not usually deploy

96-710: A new stage was introduced that closer-resembles the stages used by televised events at the time. During the first brand extension , each WWE tour was exclusive to either the Raw or SmackDown brand. This remained the case through 2012, even after the first brand extension ended in 2011 on televised programming. In 2013, the shows were rebranded as "WWE Live", with NXT house shows subsequently branded as "NXT Live". After WrestleMania 38 in April 2022, WWE began to brand house shows held on weekends as "Saturday Night's Main Event" (reviving

120-528: A tag team match against The Brothers of Destruction ) despite his retirement, describing the event as being a "glorified house show" that was not as important as WrestleMania or "coming back as the Heartbreak Kid". Dark match Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from

144-499: Is the shortest in the title's history. The current champion is Douki , who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating El Desperado at New Japan Soul: Night 7 on July 5, 2024, in Tokyo, Japan . As of November 28, 2024. House show A house show is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on

168-1217: The British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship , the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship , the NWA World Welterweight Championship , the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship , the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship , the WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship , and the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship were the eight championships that were involved. On November 5, 1997, then-champion Shinjiro Otani vacated all J-Crown belts but

192-786: The WCW Cruiserweight Championship on an unspecified house show (thereby giving the title to Psychosis), after WCW management was forced to drop Lane's gimmick that was perceived as offensive by the GLAAD . The phrase has been used to pejoratively describe WWE pay-per-views intended primarily for specific markets, including UK-only pay-per-views such as Insurrextion and Rebellion , and WWE's events in Saudi Arabia . In 2019, Shawn Michaels defended his one-off return at WWE's 2018 Crown Jewel pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia (reuniting D-Generation X to participate in

216-474: The face wrestlers win most matches, largely to send the crowd home happy. If a heel defends a title, the face may win by disqualification, preventing the title from changing hands. Until the 1990s, most televised professional wrestling programs were taped weeks in advance in small studios and featured primarily matches with lesser-known wrestlers while interviews revolved around feuds between upper level talent that were to be settled at an upcoming major show at

240-652: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship after the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) retook control of its Light Heavyweight title, effectively ending the J-Crown. On November 12, 2023, the title belt itself became a champion during DDT 's Ultimate Party 2023 event, by winning the company's comedic Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship , which is defended under a 24/7 rule: during the event, Hiromu Takahashi , who

264-715: The Junior Heavyweight Championship and its belt remained in Takahashi's possession. There have been a total of 97 reigns shared among 43 wrestlers with eight vacancies . Title changes happen mostly at NJPW-promoted events, as it has only changed hands at non-NJPW events twice. Reigns 36 and 37 occurred on World Championship Wrestling 's Nitro television program, when Juventud Guerrera defeated Jushin Thunder Liger on November 29, 1999, and on December 6, 1999, when Liger retrieved

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288-568: The Rougeau's home town of Montreal. This change (and the eventual "decision reversal") was only ever mentioned during segments taped specifically for and shown in the Montreal market. A fictional house show can be used to explain a sudden vacation or change of a title caused due to backstage issues on television. For example, on October 4, 1999 edition of WCW Monday Nitro , the commentators stated that Psychosis had defeated Lenny Lane for

312-632: The WWF Championship from Bob Backlund in 1994 at a live event in Madison Square Garden . There have also been occasions when title changes occur but are not recognized by the promotion. Some notable house show title changes include an August 10, 1987 match where The Rougeau Brothers ( Raymond and Jacques ) won over the champion Hart Foundation ( Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart ) to take the WWF Tag Team championship in

336-419: The advent of WWE Network , WWE has televised portions of what are otherwise house shows as hour-long specials on the service, such as Starrcade —an event that shares the name with the flagship pay-per-view of the now-defunct WCW (whose assets were acquired by WWE), and The Shield's Final Chapter —a special which featured Dean Ambrose 's final WWE appearance with his stable The Shield before his departure from

360-595: The branding of a former WWE television series ) and "Sunday Night Stunner". Because house shows are not televised, sometimes controversial things occur during them (although this is rare) which might not happen on a televised show. For example, on May 19, 1996, the MSG "Curtain Call" , which was also a rare example of a shoot , occurred at a house show taped at Madison Square Garden . At the same show, The Bodydonnas lost their WWF Tag Team Championship to The Godwinns . With

384-457: The championship by defeating Guerrera's stand-in Psychosis . Shiro Koshinaka was the first champion in the title's history. Liger holds the record for most reigns with eleven, over which he has successfully defended the title 31 times, more than any champion. He also holds the record for the longest reign in the title's history at 628 days during his sixth reign. Guerrera's only reign of 7 days

408-452: The exposure that they and their wrestlers receive during televised events, as well as to test reactions to matches, wrestlers, and gimmicks that are being considered for the main televised programming and upcoming pay-per-views . As house shows are not televised, all matches are technically dark matches , though that term is usually reserved for non-televised matches at otherwise televised events. House shows are also often scripted to make

432-570: The industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence of fans so as not to reveal the worked nature of the business. Into the 21st century, widespread discussion on the Internet has popularized these terms. Many of the terms refer to the financial aspects of professional wrestling in addition to in-ring terms. Also road agent , producer and coach . Also juicing , gigging , getting color , and running

456-411: The promotion's flagship venues. Prior to the 1980s, these were house shows, though with the advent of closed-circuit television , and later pay-per-view , these became televised events as well. Later on in the 1990s, the advent of weekly shows such as WWF's Monday Night Raw and WCW Monday Nitro , where competitive matches between upper level talent and storylines play out as they happen in front of

480-587: The promotion. Starting in March 2023, All Elite Wrestling launched a series of house shows under the "House Rules" brand. Most major promotions try to develop their angles only during televised shows and will rarely book a major development (such as a title change) for house shows. House show title changes can occur both to gauge how fans would react to a certain outcome, and allow for outcomes that would appeal to local fans—such as Edge winning his first WWF Intercontinental Championship over Jeff Jarrett at

504-439: The razor . Also booker and booking . Also going broadway . Also bury and buried . Also championship advantage . Also forbidden door . Also getting the heat . Also lackey or heavy Also babyface , blue-eye (England), or técnico (Mexico). Also playing Ricky Morton . Also hope spot . Also cross-promotion . Also persona . Also jobber to

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528-481: The same setup for staging or pyrotechnics used for their television counterparts. In the past, a WWE house show would consist mainly of a ring, essential lighting, and a crowd. In late 2011, WWE invested US$ 1.5 million in production improvements, which included three LED -lit entrance stages (one each for Raw and SmackDown , and one backup) featuring a ramp and video display, and leveraging venues' existing AV equipment for multimedia such as entrances . As of 2021,

552-543: The title back in time for Nitro . Edge similarly lost the aforementioned Intercontinental Championship back to Jarrett at Fully Loaded the next evening in Buffalo . Even rarer is the top title of a promotion changing hands. This has occurred relatively few times, notable occurrences include Bret Hart winning the then- WWF Championship from Ric Flair in 1992 at a live event in Saskatchewan and Diesel winning

576-523: Was both IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion, successfully defended the latter title against Kazuki Hirata before laying in the ring. Because the Junior Heavyweight Championship belt was on Takahashi's chest when he did so, the referee counted this as a pinfall and declared the belt the new champion; Hirata quickly pinned the belt to win the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship, although

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