For many years, WWE was the home to larger than life superheroes. Hulk Hogan was their champion for years at over 300 pounds. Andre the Giant was one of their most popular stars at over 500 pounds. Even when they went "smaller" in the '90s, it was with people like Bret "The Hitman" Hart at 235 pounds and "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels at 225 pounds. There were even fans then that felt these two men were too small to be WWE champions.

Things have changed. Wrestlers are smaller and quicker than ever. Many WWE fans weight more than a number of WWE superstars, although the lightweight stars are in better shape than many of the WWE superstars of the past. With smaller wrestlers becoming more and more popular, let's take a look at some of WWE's lightest wrestlers of all time.

UPDATE: 2024/04/01 20:00 EST BY BENJAMIN VIEIRA

There was a time in professional wrestling where everyone had to look, act, and be a certain way. Wrestlers used to have to be these towering figures and often smaller wrestlers were overlooked and not given attention. That was a main issue in WCW where cruiserweights were not being given the respect they deserved, despite putting on some of the best matches of the night. In 2024, the roles have reversed and now that style of wrestling is the norm. Let's take a look at some of WWE's lightest wrestlers of all time.

Leon Ruff Surprised Everyone In NXT

Official Weight: 157lbs

WWE's history is full of some of the biggest underdogs in history. Those who fans would never expect to get those big wins end up surprising everyone and accomplishing something tremendous. In NXT, Leon Ruff was one of the most unexpected champions in the history of WWE's developmental brand. He defeated Johnny Gargano to win the NXT North American Championship in 2020 to win the title and held it for 25 days. While Ruff may no longer be with WWE and NXT, his win is remembered as the most unexpected in the history of the title.

Sunil Singh Was Apart Of The Bollywood Boyz

Official Weight: 159lbs

In 2016, Sunil Singh debuted for WWE alongside his brother, Samir. Together, the two made up The Bollywood Boyz. They came with over 10 years of experience together, having competed in OVW, Ring Ka King, GFW, and more. Sunil also competed in singles action at times, even making his professional wrestling debut in 2005, a year before his brother, Samir, did. He also competed in the Crusierweight Classic, but lost in the first round to Noam Dar.

The Bollywood Boyz' most notable story came as they were aligned with Jinder Mahal during his WWE Championship reign. However, they mostly lingered in the lower card of WWE until they were released in 2021.

Akira Tozawa Has Had Numerous Roles In WWE

Official Weight: 156lbs

Akira Tozawa worked for 12 years for Dragon Gate in Japan and was a huge success there. He held their Open the Brave Gate, Open the Twin Gate, Open the Triangle Gate, and Open the Owari Gate titles. He also impressed when he came for a tour of America and worked for Chikara, PWG and Dragon Gate USA. It caught WWE's attention and he signed to join them.

The 156-pound Japanese superstar made his debut in the Cruiserweight Classic tournament and made it to the quarterfinals. He then joined 205 Live, becoming a huge fan favorite. Tozawa has been in numerous roles throughout his WWE career. Most recently, he joined Alpha Academy.

Ho Ho Lun Was In WWE For A Brief Amount Of Time

Official Weight: 155lbs

Ho Ho Lun's WWE was a very short-lived one. He debuted for the company as a part of the Crusierweight Classic, making it to the second round of the tournament. He also stuck around for the debut of WWE's Crusierweight-focused show, 205 Live, and NXT. However, his time with the company came to an end on August 3, 2017, when he requested his release to help take care of his mother.

Since he left WWE, Lun has competed for Dragon Gate Pro Wrestling, KOPW, Brit King Pro, HKWF, and more.

Spike Dudley Was One Of WWE's Biggest Underdogs

Official Weight: 150lbs

Spike Dudley worked in the indies in California before he signed with ECW in 1996 to become part of the large Dudley family. He teamed with his brother Bubba Ray Dudley when he showed up. He was the comic relief in the Dudley family, the runt of the family whose name was Little Spike Dudley (LSD) and whose finishing move was the Acid Drop.

Over time, the 150-pound Spike Dudley teamed with and feuded with the Dudley Boyz. His small size allowed some big moments, such as when Bam Bam Bigelow threw him into the fans, who caught him and crowd-surfed him around. He also worked in WWE, where he won the Cruiserweight, European and Hardcore titles, as well as the tag titles with Tazz.

Mark Andrews Spent His WWE Career In NXT

Official Weight: 147lbs

Mark Andrews' WWE career was largely spent in NXT UK and NXT. The cruiserweight started his career in various NWA promotions in the U.K. and various U.K. promotions, including Triple X Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling, Frontier, Preston City, and Progress Wrestling.

After a stint in TNA Impact Wrestling as Mandrews, he signed with WWE. He was part of the United Kingdom Championship tournament to crown the first ever WWE U.K. Champion and made it to the semifinals before losing to Pete Dunne. He stayed with WWE until 2022 and now wrestles in TNA.

Samir Singh Was The Lighter Of The Brothers

Official Weight: 144lbs

The other half of The Bollywood Boyz finds himself higher up on this. Samir Singh weighs 15lbs less than his brother, Sunil. Samir began wrestling the year after Sunil. However, the two brothers have mostly competed alongside one another throughout their careers. This includes WWE, where they competed on the main roster, 205 Live, and NXT.

As mentioned, the duo spent most of their time aligned with Jinder Mahal. In addition, they were also prominently featured in the undercard where they competed for the WWE 24/7 Championship.

Hornswoggle Had Some Big Stories

Official Weight: 142lbs

Hornswoggle was a mainstay of the WWE from the mid-2000s to the early-2010s. He was featured in a number of prominent WWE storylines, including being aligned with Finlay and D-Generation X. In addition, he was also the final holder of the original incarnation of the WWE Cruiserweight Championship when he defeated Chavo Guererro for the title in his sixth match in the company. He was also revealed to be the anonymous RAW General Manager.

Hornswoggle was released from WWE in 2016 and has been making appearances for various companies and independent promotions.

Drake Maverick Assumed Many Roles In WWE

Official Weight: 140lbs

Drake Maverick has had quite a WWE career thus far. After making a name for himself on the British independent scene and in TNA, Maverick joined WWE as the General Manager of 205 Live. Then, he was the heel manager of Authors of Pain and chased after the 24/7 Championship. Maverick was then released from his WWE contract amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. His release was made part of a WWE storyline on NXT when he competed for the NXT Cruiserweight Title, something that was met with very poor reception by fans due to WWE's using real life circumstances in such a manner.

He was released again on November 18, 2021. However, he was rehired again by WWE as a member of the creative team.

El Torito Was The Most Popular Member Of His Group

Official Weight: 110lbs

Before he was known as El Torito, he was Mascarita Dorada in Triple A and CMLL. However, in 2013, he joined WWE and was packaged as the mascot for Los Matadores. He became extremely popular and even transcended the popularity of the tag team he was managing. His most notable moment was competing at Extreme Rules 2014 against Hornswoggle.

El Torito did not do much after he ended his association with Los Matadores and was released in 2016.