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The Intercontinental Championship received a shot in the arm at Clash of Champions as Sami Zayn, Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles stole the show with a great ladder match. The Intercontinental title has always been considered the championship for the best in-ring worker. As such, Sami Zayn seems like the right candidate to have classic matches with anyone on the SmackDown roster.
The Intercontinental title has a rich history dating back to 1979 when Pat Patterson became the inaugural Intercontinental Champion. Former Intercontinental Champion, The Honky Tonk Man, holds the record for the longest run with the Intercontinental Championship as his legendary title reign lasted 454 days before the Ultimate Warrior ended it.
Chris Jericho holds the record for most Intercontinental title wins with nine. However, his combined days as champion is still 140 days lower than the length of Honky Tonk's single title reign.
While none of the modern-day Superstars can hope to match that mark, this list looks at the five longest Intercontinental title reigns since 2000.
#5. Jeff Hardy - 189 days as Intercontinental Champion
A five-time Intercontinental Champion, Jeff Hardy's fourth reign lasted over six months and earns him a place on this list. Hardy was in the middle of a sustained singles push in 2007 when he defeated Umaga to win the gold on the Sept. 3 episode of RAW.
This run as champion wasn't really memorable as Hardy was taking baby steps towards the main event scene, which resulted in very few title defenses for the Intercontinental title. Instead, Hardy got into a feud with Triple H, became the number one contender for Randy Orton's WWE Championship, and seemed set to become Mr. Money in the Bank at WrestleMania 24.
However, Hardy was found guilty of a wellness policy violation and was given a 60-day suspensiona few weeks before WrestleMania. As a result, WWE removed Hardy from the Money in the Bank match.
Additionally, he ended his 189-day Intercontinental title reign when Chris Jericho beat him on the March 10, 2008 episode of RAW just before the suspension took effect.
#4. Shinsuke Nakamura - 201 days as Intercontinental Champion
The first holder of the Intercontinental Championship with the current design, Shinsuke Nakamura's sole Intercontinental title run lasted 201 days. He earned the title when he unceremoniously defeated Finn Balor in a match that was relegated to the 2019 Extreme Rules Pre-show. However, he did defend the title against a variety of opponents during his run.
Nakamura successfully defended the title against Ali, The Miz, and even Roman Reigns as he flourished being the first Asian-born Intercontinental Champion. Additionally, his reign as the IWGP Intercontinental Champion during his time with new Japan raised the prestige of that title to the same level as the IWGP Heavyweight championship. So, winning the equivalent title with WWE was considered poetic.
Nakamura never came close to matching his exploits in New Japan, but his run was creditable nonetheless. The reign finally ended at the hands of Braun Strowman on the January 31, 2020 episode of SmackDown before Nakamura's ally, Sami Zayn, won it back a few weeks later.
#3. Randy Orton - 210 days as Intercontinental Champion
With his numerous world title reigns, it is easy to forget that Randy Orton was once an Intercontinental Champion, as well. In fact, winning the IC title 17 years ago propelled Orton into the main event scene.
In 2003, Orton had just started his Legend Killer gimmick as a part of Evolution. He beat Rob Van Dam, who was having a great run with the belt, to become the Intercontinental Champion at Armageddon. What followed was 7 months of successful title defenses against the likes of Van Dam, Chris Jericho, Mick Foley, and Shelton Benjamin.
By the time he dropped the title to a returning Edge at Vengeance 2004, Orton was a made man. He became the number one contender for the world heavyweight title immediately after his Intercontinental Championship loss. The Viper won his first world title a month later at Summerslam, beating Chris Benoit in an acclaimed match. Orton hasn't looked back since
#2. Cody Rhodes - 234 days as Intercontinental Champion
Cody Rhodes won the Intercontinental title for the first time on Aug. 9, 2011, when he defeated Ezekial Jackson for the belt. During the time, Rhodes wrestled with a protective face mask calling himself 'Undashing' due to an injury suffered during a match with Rey Mysterio.
His first title feud was with former partner, Ted Dibiase, Jr. The Intercontinental title wasn't as prominent when Rhodes started a feud with main-eventer Randy Orton, wrestling him mostly in non-title matches. He did have successful title defenses against John Morrison and Booker T before he entered into a WrestleMania angle with The Big Show.
Rhodes ridiculed Show for his poor win-loss record at WrestleMania. The 500-pounder inevitably defeated Rhodes and took his title at WrestleMania 28. The angle was set up as a feel-good story for Show at The Showcase of the Immortals, but Cody did win the title back at the very next pay-per-view, Extreme Rules 2012.
#1. Shelton Benjamin - 244 days as Intercontinental Champion
While he is currently a member of the Hurt Business, Shelton Benjamin was on fire during his first Intercontinental title run in 2004. He had already won the WWE Tag titles as part of Team Angle and his singles push started with three upset victories of Triple H, firmly establishing Benjamin as a Superstar on the rise.
WWE introduced the interactive pay-per-view event, Taboo Tuesday, in 2004 where WWE fans could choose the opponent for Intercontinental Champion, Chris Jericho, as part of an online poll. Benjamin won the fan vote and defeated Jericho clean in the middle of the ring to claim his first singles title in the company.
He proved to be a strong Intercontinental Champion, with successful title defenses at multiple pay-per-views. He bested the likes of Christian, Maven, and Jericho to hold the belt for 244 days. His reign ended memorably too as Carlito dethroned him on his first night on RAW. Benjamin would go to win the title on two more occasions.
