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The Intercontinental Championship has a storied history dating back to 1979 when inaugural champion Pat Patterson defeated "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase for the WWF NA Heavyweight Championship.
He then defeated Johnny Rodz in a fictional tournament for the fictional WWF South American Championship, thereby unifying the titles to make the Intercontinental Championship.
Since that moment, the Intercontinental Championship has had many Superstars hold the title: Mr. Perfect, Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, Chris Jericho, Edge, and none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin himself.
Following the 2016 brand split, the IC Championship has been given a higher level of importance resulting in good matches and memorable feuds. Our current IC Champion is Shinsuke Nakamura and today we will be looking at five Superstars who should be considered to win the championship from The Artist.
#1 Aleister Black
Out of all the Superstars on this list, The Dutch Destroyer seems to be the most likely choice.
Aleister Black was successful in NXT, managing to win the NXT Championship and being inserted into the memorable Gargano-Ciampa feud which should have made him a future main event talent on either RAW or SmackDown Live.
Unfortunately, similar to most Superstars who moved to Smackdown during the Superstar Shakeup, he was lost in the shuffle. Though his promos were interesting and somewhat helped to explore his character, fans had to wait three months to see Aleister Black in action.
However, Black has since been involved in decent short-lived feuds against Sami Zayn and Cesaro. A great way to slowly move Aleister Black into the main event title picture would be to have him win the Intercontinental Championship from Shinsuke Nakamura in what should be an amazing "striker vs striker" match.
#2 Buddy Murphy
If you had thought that Aleister Black had a rough start on SmackDown Live, it is nothing compared to Buddy Murphy's first four months on the main roster.
Buddy Murphy certainly had a mixed time in NXT, winning the Tag Team Championships with Wesley Blake before fading away and rarely ever appearing on TV. Despite this, he managed to work his way to 205 Live where he became the Cruiserweight Division's Juggernaut, displaying his improvement.
In a short time, he won the Cruiserweight Championship in his hometown and held it for six months. All seemed to be going well for Murphy, especially after he was drafted to Smackdown Live.
Unfortunately for Murphy, he, like Aleister Black, was drafted around the time of the WildCard Rule and was relegated to repetitive ad-break promos over the course of the next four months of his career.
Luckily for Murphy, he was inserted into the "Roman Reigns attacker" angle due to fans noticing him meandering around in the backstage area. He had a great match with Roman Reigns, an important win over Daniel Bryan, and now is finally getting noticed.
Though they might not push him into the main event title picture immediately, his push might translate into him being Intercontinental Champion.
Murphy vs Nakamura would be a fantastic feud. This feud would bring added attention to the IC Championship in addition to great matches.
#3 Andrade
Yet another heel who would make a great opponent for Shinsuke Nakamura is none other than Andrade.
Andrade had a mediocre 2018, losing the NXT Championship and having great matches with the likes of Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles only to not be inserted into any title pictures on SmackDown Live.
2019 has already shown that WWE is getting more serious about Andrade, with him getting more frequently shown on SmackDown Live and advancing to the quarterfinals of the King of the Ring Tournament.
With the potential of Andrade winning the 2019 King of the Ring, the Intercontinental Championship would be great to add to his repertoire on the main roster and also make for a great memorable match against Nakamura.
#4 Chad Gable
We are moving back to the face side of Smackdown with Chad Gable. Though Gable has begun competing on 205 Live recently, he is participating in the 2019 King of the Ring, so he is presumably still wrestling on Smackdown Live.
Chad Gable is an underrated wrestler, who should be viewed as the second coming of Kurt Angle by WWE management. Unfortunately, Gable is likely seen as too small to be a main event caliber talent.
Even if he is stuck in the midcard of the WWE, the Intercontinental Championship could use an impressive technical wrestler such as Gable who can put on great matches with almost any opponent.
#5 Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens' recent tirade on Shane McMahon gathered a lot of attention and made him a temporary fan favorite. I say temporary because WWE has made Kevin Owens go back on his anti-authority character by downright begging Shane McMahon to reduce his fine.
This might be part of a storyline where Kevin Owens makes Shane McMahon feel safe, only to then attack him and enter the main event picture. Alternatively, it could be WWE messing up yet again with failing to strike when the iron is hot.
Kevin Owens is an accomplished wrestler; being a former Universal World Champion, a three-time US Champion, NXT Champion, and two-time Intercontinental Champion.
If WWE is unwilling to let Owens be a main roster talent or even get past the first round of King of the Ring against Elias, the least they can do for Owens is to put him in the Intercontinental Championship title picture against Shinsuke Nakamura.
Nakamura and Owens have only faced off a handful of times, and it would make for a great match with two Superstars that get big crowd reactions that would undeniably bring attention to the Intercontinental Championship.
