#3. Taka Michinoku
When WWE brought in the Light Heavyweight Division in 1997, it promised a new era of breath-taking, high-flying wrestling that would be the perfect competition to WCW's Cruiserweight ranks.
The youngster tasked with spearheading that charge was Taka Michinoku. Taka made his debut in July 1997 and come the end of that year, was celebrating being the company's first-ever Light Heavyweight Champion after beating Devon Storm, Aguila, and Brian Christopher to win a tournament for the title. The finale took place on pay-per-view, too, granting Taka a massive audience.
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The Light Heavyweight Championship was decidedly short-lived, as was Taka's WWE career. While he defended his title for a short while and then enjoyed a foray into tag team wrestling as part of the Kaientai faction, he never got to follow through on that early promise. He ultimately left the company for good in 2002.
With so many high-flyers in today's WWE, could you imagine Taka Michinoku against Ricochet, or as part of an NXT TakeOver?