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The Intercontinental Championship was created on September 1, 1979. It was "won" by WWE legend Pat Patterson in a fictitious tournament that was claimed to have occurred in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Patterson, reigning as the WWF North American Heavyweight Champion, was deemed the WWF South American Heavyweight Champion upon being crowned tournament winner, and the titles were immediately merged to become the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
The title has been defended on six of the seven continents over the years, and hopefully one day WWE finds a way to have a show in Antarctica so it can complete its journey. There have been long reigns (Honky Tonk Man held the belt for 454 days), extremely short reigns (Dean (Shane) Douglas held the belt for under 14 minutes, co-Champions (Chris Jericho and Chyna, who was also the first and to this day only female Intercontinental Champion), and dual champions.
Ultimate Warrior defeated Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI to win the WWF Championship while his IC Championship was also on the line and Triple H held the IC Title while he was Tag Team Champion with Steve Austin.
D'Lo Brown, Jeff Jarrett, and Kurt Angle all held the European and Intercontinental belts at the same time (Euro-Continental Champions) and the list goes on.
The Intercontinental Title has also been unified with another belt on four different occasions. The first time was when Edge (WCW United States Champion) defeated Test (WWF Intercontinental Champion) to dissolve the US Title into the IC Title at Survivor Series 2001.
The IC Title swallowed the European Title in a ladder match that saw IC Champ RVD defeat European Champ Jeff Hardy on RAW in July 2002 (RVD would not be recognized as Euro-Continental Champion).
RVD retired the Hardcore Championship a months later, also on RAW, when he defeated Tommy Dreamer with both titles on the line. Three weeks after Kane defeated Chris Jericho to win the belt, it was dissolved into the World Heavyweight Championship when World Heavyweight Champion Triple H defeated IC Champion Kane at No Mercy in 2002.
That lasted for a little more than half a year, as Stone Cold, co-general manager of RAW at the time, reactivated it (for no real reason) in May 2003. It has been active ever since.
The inter-continental title has largely been a mid-card title owing to other popular championship golds like the WWE championship and the world heavyweight championship overshadowing it. However, it is important to note that the IC title is a stepping stone in ensuring that the competitors reach the big leagues and hence its legitimacy is solidified.
Some of the greatest recognized matches of all time have been for the Intercontinental Championship. The following are the Top 5 best Intercontinental Championship matches.
Honorable Mentions
Only five matches made the thick of this list, but there are a number of very good, even great matches, that deserve to be recognized. From hardcore clashes to dazzling displays of professional wrestling, here are some other Intercontinental Championship matches worth going out of your way to see. This is in no particular order.
Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley (Backlash 2004)
- This is the match that, in the eyes of many people made Randy Orton a star. After months of Evolution teasing and brutalizing Foley, he was finally able to get his hands on Orton, one-on-one. Neither man disappointed, and Randy Orton proved his toughness when he was thrown, shirtless, back-first onto a pile of thumbtacks. The match was an absolutely brutal encounter which Orton managed to win.
Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (SummerSlam 1995)
- The argument between fans will last forever. Which of the two HBK vs. Razor ladder matches was better? Was it their first, the match that set the bar for all other ladder matches, from WrestleMania X? Was it the rematch at SummerSlam more than a year later? The WrestleMania one is somewhere in the top 5, so this list has made its decision.
Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz (WrestleMania 34)
- In the opening match of the main card, Rollins, Balor, and Miz absolutely tore the house down and nearly set it on fire in their triple threat for the IC Title. It was bell-to-bell action with a raucous crowd, and the reaction was even more insane when Rollins earned his first Intercontinental Championship.
Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog (SummerSlam 1992)
- In a match considered by many to be one of the greatest matches of all time in general, not just for the IC Title, the British Bulldog saw his most iconic and memorable moment. He won the IC Title over Bret Hart in his home of England in front of a massive gathering of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium. As great of a match, and especially as great of a moment, it is, this match was more of a blip on the radar than important classic. Bulldog would lose the belt mere months later and never win the title again. This was his true top moment as a singles wrestler, but it wasn't a crowning moment. They threw him a bone in front of the hometown audience. The family feud as it was advertised heled gain the match a cult status. Adding Hart's sister to the mix was a smar move by WWE.
Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mystero (Extreme Rules & The Bash, 2009)
- Mysterio and Jericho were rivals in the Cruiserweight division in WCW, but rarely met in WWE. Their only actual feud came in the middle of 2009, which saw back-to-back fantastic matches, the second of which had Mysterio's mask on the line.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Rob Van Dam (Backlash 2002)
- If you want to see the definition of a match that can be both one-sided and great at the same time, give this one a look. Eddie Guerrero took RVD to school that night, and decisively became the IC Champ for his second and final time. This is less remembered than their ladder match for the title a month later on RAW (the match where the fan knocked the ladder over), but both are worth checking out.
#5 The Miz (C) vs. Dolph Ziggler (Title vs. Career, No Mercy 2016)
The most recent match on this list was between two men who are pretty much synonymous with "mid-card champion" in the current era.
The Miz and Ziggler are both former World Champions, but their legacies are both built on their strong runs just beneath the top. The two men from Ohio have battled each other on nearly too many occasions to count in their WWE careers.
In 2017, Dolph Ziggler struggled to stay relevant and was desperate to get himself back into the spotlight. The Miz was arguably the top star on SmackDown, and he held the Intercontinental Championship.
The A-Lister had successfully defended his title twice in a row against Ziggler in recent months, and this was deemed not only The Showoff's last shot, but he also put his career on the line in order to secure the match against the originally unwilling champion.
Ziggler, who has spent his entire career losing and re-gaining the faith of the fans (whether playing a babyface or a heel) was floundering, but in the month and a half after SummerSlam, where he failed to defeat Dean Ambrose to with the WWE Championship (as a heel), Ziggler and The Miz did a masterful job getting the fans to once again rally behind the down-on-his-luck former World Champion.
Ziggler would go on to win the match in dramatic fashion. The fan reaction was extremely loud and nearly palpable. Miz vs. Ziggler from No Mercy 2016 is a worthy addition to the list of great IC Title matches of all time.
#4 The Rock (C) vs. Triple H (Ladder Match, SummerSlam 1998)
It seems that both SummerSlam and ladder matches have been indelibly linked with the Intercontinental Championship.
Chris Jericho won the fourth of his record nine IC Titles in a ladder match in 2001. Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon had a pair of amazing ladder matches for the IC Title in 1994 and 1995, the second of which was at SummerSlam (keep reading to see if either of those make it the list) and RVD and Jeff Hardy had a pair of memorable ones in 2001 and 2002, the first of which was at SummerSlam.
A month before that ladder match, RVD won the title in a memorable one against Eddie Guerrero. Edge and Christian ended their feud during the Invasion angle in a ladder match for the IC belt.
Christian also lost IC Title ladder matches to RVD and Chris Jericho in September 2003 and September 2004, respectively. Poor guy. Most recently, the IC Title was defended in multi-man ladder matches at WrestleMania 31 and WrestleMania 32. We can discuss SummerSlam IC Title matches soon.
One of the most memorable Intercontinental Title matches of all time took place between two men whose runs from the bottom to the top nearly mirrored each other. Triple H vs. The Rock is a modern classic WWE rivalry, which began during the war between The Nation of Domination and D-Generation X. The ladder match at SummerSlam 1998 is remembered because it is so different from most other ladder matches in pro wrestling history.
It was based more around just climbing the ladder and using it when needed, and with the exception of a couple of scary falls, there were no death-defying dives or crashes that people have come to expect out of a ladder match.
This match is remembered by many because of those two things -- it was the first big singles match of their storied rivalry, and it was perhaps the only ladder match in WWE history (except the first one in 1992) that didn't involve anybody intentionally flying off of a ladder.
Both Triple H and the Rock are not ideally known for their high spots and hence, this match was a subdued affair considering the fact that there was a ladder in the mix.
#3 Razor Ramon (C) vs. Shawn Michaels (Ladder Match, WrestleMania X)
The second ladder match on this list, not only is this one of the quintessential ladder matches of all time, but it's also one of the most-talked-about Intercontinental Title matches ever.
Shawn Michaels had been stripped of the title in September 1993 because he failed to defend it within the 30-day time limit, and Razor Ramon won it after winning a battle royal on RAW (sort of -- Razor and Rick Martel were the final 2) and then defeating Martel the following week to become the champion.
Michaels returned in November claiming to be the real Intercontinental Champion, and after months of building to it, the title was literally hanging in the balance when both belts were hung above the ring inside Madison Square Garden at the tenth WrestleMania.
Nobody will ever forget the two biggest moments in the match, a pair of iconic uses of the ladder by Michaels. He confused everyone when he climbed to the second rope in the corner and set the ladder in front of him. The confusion ended when he pushed off, falling to the mat onto Ramon and sandwiching the ladder between the two men.
The truly iconic moment came earlier, however, when Michaels ascended the ladder and dove off onto Ramon with a flying splash. When you are able to have a match that is universally remembered as great and also create an iconic moment, you know you've done something special. That is why this match gets the nod over their also amazing, but not quite as great, rematch at SummerSlam the following year.
#2 Mr. Perfect (C) vs. Bret Hart (SummerSlam 1991)
Much like the ladder match, SummerSlam is also forever linked to the Intercontinental Championship. The belt changed hands five years in a row (SummerSlam 1988 through 1992), skipped a year, and changed again in 1994.
After skipping two years, it changed hands again for the next six years (1997 through 2002). A new Intercontinental Champion has been crowned at 14 of the 31 SummerSlam events.
This SummerSlam, the fourth edition of the show, was the turning point in Bret Hart's career. Before this, he was seen as a good tag guy and had success, but not stunning success, as one half of the Hart Foundation with his brother-in-law, Jim Neidhart.
Mr. Perfect was believed to be retiring (think Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 14) and he was going out on his back, the way a wrestler should.
The passing of the torch from the Perfect One, who, prior to Bret becoming the man, people may have called "The Excellence of Execution", to the man who would actually hold that moniker, Bret Hart, was an exceptional match, moment, and had a lasting effect.
The SummerSlam 1991 classic may not be remembered as fondly as the one a year later, but this match has much grander significance. Although Perfect would go on to have a few more years in the ring, at the time, everyone thought he was done. Bret was being given the ball, but he decided that he was going to take it instead.
Mr. Perfect did everything within his power in order to make Bret look like the conquering hero, the pure embodiment of heart and wrestling talent. Perfect, like Bret, was indeed an embodiment of wrestling talent, but he was also the pure embodiment of shameless self-promotion and self-aggrandization.
His name was Mr. Perfect, after all. You don't call yourself that if you don't think you're better than everyone else.
#1 Randy Savage (C) vs. Ricky Steamboat (WrestleMania III)
Indeed, this match is synonymous with the Intercontinental Championship. For all of the amazing matches that Ricky Steamboat has had in his career, this is the one he will be most remembered for. It was the biggest match ever, before or since.
Steamboat himself has said that when he meets fans, more often than not, this is the match they talk about.
In front of a giant crowd (whether it was 93, 173 or otherwise), the biggest, by far, that the Steamer had seen, he and Macho Man Randy Savage put together what is generally considered to be the best match in WWF history at that point in time, and to this day one of the best ever.
They (especially Savage, who was a stickler for meticulously mapping out his big matches) had a smartly constructed, simple match that allowed them to take the fans on the roller coaster that they built, and completely control every twist and turn.
Many fans, especially ones who may consider themselves to be purists, despise when a "ref bump" happens in a match. The apex of this match, the climax, featured not only referee Dave Hebner being inadvertently knocked down but Steamboat's cornerman for the match, George "The Animal" Steele, pushed Savage off the top rope just before the finish, which led directly to Steamboat getting the three-count and the Intercontinental Title.
Granted, this was a bit of revenge and poetic justice based on the three months prior -- Savage was trying to use the ring bell again, and Steele, whom Savage wrestled for the better part of the three months before WrestleMania, stopped him from doing it.
In the end, this is not the match that Savage is most remembered for (his match with Hogan that closed WrestleMania V may be the one), but he step-by-step wrote and performed one of the most memorable matches of all time. And on top of it all, this match was on the same show as the absolute biggest match ever, Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant.
While Hogan vs. Andre eclipsed this match by a wide margin in terms of overall history, the fact that an undercard match is remembered as fondly as it is when it was window dressing for what is often described as THE match in professional wrestling history, is amazing.
That, along with the sheer brilliance of the match itself, is what makes this the best Intercontinental Championship match in history.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
