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The intercontinental Championship is one of the most prestigious championships in WWE history. It was introduced in 1979, and is called the "workhorse" title because the company often gives this title to the best workers.
The championship was established by Pat Patterson after unifyingthe WWF North American Heavyweight and South American Heavyweight championships.
The intercontinental championship is WWE's second-oldest currently active championship. As mentioned earlier, Pat Patterson is the first every intercontinental champion. But Pedro Morales held the title the longest, with a combined reign of 619 days. Chris Jericho has the most reigns at 9.
But these are all well-known facts. In this list, we will be looking at some of the lesser known facts about the Intercontinental Championship.
#5. Chris Jericho is the only wrestler to hold both IWGP and WWE intercontinental championships
Chris Jericho is a legend. Even at the age of 47, Jericho is one of the most relevant names in the pro wrestling industry. Jericho has won the WWE Intercontinental title a record 9 times. but he has 10 intercontinental reigns to his name.
He is the current holder of the second most prestigious championship in New Japan Pro Wrestling - the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
At NJPW Dominion 2018, Jericho challenged the then IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito for his title. The veteran pinned Naito in a brutal match after hitting a low blow followed by a Codebreaker.
Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) would have been the first one to be in this list if he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship during his tenure with WWE. MVP was the first IWGP IC champion. Shinsuke Nakamura can join this list if he can get his hands on the WWE IC championship. But since Nakamura is on SmackDown and the IC title is on RAW, we will have to wait before he gets a chance.
#4. WWE's first ever triple threat match was for the Intercontinental Championship
Triple Threat matches are one of the most common match types in modern wrestling. It is used nowadays majorly to protect the current champion while crowning a new champion. However, it is only known by a few that the first ever triple threat match in WWE was between Triple H, Goldust, and the late Owen Hart for Hart's Intercontinental title.
Even though Goldust pinned Owen Hart for the win, it was revealed that the King of Harts had his foot on the bottom rope during the count. Hence the match was restarted, and this time, Owen Hart pinned Triple H to retain his title.
#3. WWE's first ever ladder match was for the Intercontinental Championship
Ladder matches barely disappoint anyone. It usually has high spots as well as numerous close finishes. When done right, a good ladder match can keep the audience on their feet. The ladder matches have evolved so much that now we have a dedicated Tables, Ladders and Chairs PPV, as well as the Money in the Bank PPV.
However, the first ladder match in WWE was contested between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship in 1992.
As a matter of fact, the first three ladder matches were contested for the Intercontinental Championship, and Shawn Michaels was part of all of them.
WWE's second ever ladder match between the Heartbreak Kid and Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship was the first ever WWE match to earn the perfect 5-star rating. from Dave Meltzer.
#2. First major men's title to be held by a woman in WWE
Chyna was nicknamed as the Ninth Wonder of the World for a reason. In a male-dominated era of wrestling, she was booked as an unstoppable female force.
Due to Jeff Jarrett signing a contract with WWE's rival World Championship Wrestling (WCW), he dropped his Intercontinental championship to Chyna at No Mercy 1999 in a "good housekeeping" match.
Chyna later dropped this title to Chris Jericho. She later recaptured the title after pinning Trish Stratus in an intergender match for Val Venis' Intercontinental Championship.
#1. The name
When one hears the name Intercontinental Championship, one would wonder which continents fall under the name. The answer is North and South America.
The then North American Champion Pat Patterson unified his North American Heavyweight Championship with "South American Heavyweight Championship" that he won in a tournament in Brazil to introduce the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. This was just a kayfabe reason to introduce the new championship, as the entire tournament in South America was fictitious.
