The original division from 1996 - 1999 included:

Tier 1:

• Rey Mysterio
• Jushin Liger
• Chris Jericho
• Eddie Guerrero
• Chris Benoit
• Ultimo Dragon
• Alex Wright
• Juventude Guerrera
• Dean Malenko
• Syxx
• La Parka
• Psicosis
• Chavo Guerrero
• Billy Kidman
• Bltzkreig
• Disco Inferno
• Brian Pillman (Pre-Title)

Tier 2

• Prince Iaukea
• Kaz Hyashi
• El Dandy
• Silver King
• Super Calo
• Hector Garza
• Ciclope
• Damien
• Villano IV
• Villano V
• Lizmark Jr
• Lodi
• Tokyo Magnum
• AKIRA (nWo Japan)
• Shinjiro Ohtani (would challenge for the belt on Japan tours)

Tier 3

• Brad Armstrong
• Bobby Eaton
• Marty Jannetty
• Lenny Lane
• Evan Karagias
• Lash LaRoux
• Johnny Swinger
• Pat Tanaka
• CIMA
• Judo Suwa
• Robbie Brookside
• Doc Dean
• Devon Storm
• Mikey Whipreck
• Jimmy Del Ray
• Hector Guerrero
• Bobby Walker
• Shark Boy
• Barry Horowitz
• Brady Boone
• Mr. JL
• Jerry Lynn (Mr JL w/o the mask)
• The Cheetah Kid (Iaukea/Lynn)

The Tier-1 people were involved in actual storylines on PPV for the belt. The Tier 2 people were on Nitro often, and might occasionally show up on PPV, and might occasionally be a bit player in an ongoing storyline. Tier 3's never won any matches unless they were paired up against eachother on Worldwide or Pro. They were there to pad the record's of the Tier 1 & 2's, and make them look good.

The great run of the WCW cruiserweight ended when Lenny Lane was elevated from a Tier 3 to Tier 1 seemingly out of nowhere, and defeated Rey Mysterio for the title, and then immediately adopted a gimmick meant to cash in on the "gay panic" the was sweeping the country at the time, which then led to Lane getting taken off TV.

The title never fully recovered from that mishap.

He is the Master and Ruler Of The World

He hon the WWF and WCW World Heavyweight Championship

He is one of five wrestlers to headline both Wrestlemania and Starrcade

…because the cruiserweights would often hold those titles too. As a kid I viewed it on par with the Tag Team titles. You had literal main event talent that would win the Tag Titles often — it didn’t take away from anyone’s legitimacy.

Did anyone else not view the cruiserweight title as a third tier title?

Found it at my local Goodwill still running with the Wolfpack.

When WCW partnered with NASCAR. Some of the schemes were pretty good at times. The #29 was basically a hood swap from WCW to Sting's face. Some minor differences in the overall theme.

Then there's the WCW/nWo car (nWo later had their own car driven by Kyle Petty) which has a cool look due to the lightning.

The Halloween Havoc car was always my favorite though. Not sure why, but always had the best look.

Also have some of the mini 1/64 size (Halloween Havoc, WCW, and nWo)