Conceived in 1991, the championship was first awarded as the result of a single-elimination tournament; its subsequent lineage ended when the final champion Brad Armstrong was stripped of the title due to injury.

The next month, WCW's Main Event featured the last quarter final, in which Mike Graham triumphed over another York Foundation member in Terrance Taylor.

[1] Both of the semi-final matches were held at September's Clash of the Champions XVI event in Augusta, Georgia; Morton defeated Graham in a heel finish which depicted him using several illegal advantages to win.

[4] Pillman successfully defended the championship against Tom Zenk at the May 17 WrestleWar event in Jacksonville, Florida,[5] before being defeated by Scotty Flamingo in Mobile, Alabama, during the June 20 Beach Blast pay-per-view.

Among Watts' edicts was a new rule that would depict any maneuver performed from the top rope of the ring as illegal and resulting in disqualification; this effectively ended the viability of the light heavyweight style, which relied extensively on such moves, even though the matches involved in the championship picture had been considered "outstanding" by the fans.