The Intercontinental Championship is one of the most prestigious and storied titles in all of Sports entertainment. Anyone who is someone in the wrestling world has held the belt at some point.
From old-time legends like Pat Patterson to Attitude Era icons like Stone Cold Steve Austin, the IC title has always been held by main event calibre superstars. It is the third-oldest championship in the WWE today and was created in 1979.
After 38 years of being held by some of the greats in the industry, it's crazy to think that there are a few high-profile superstars that still haven't held the golden strap. Not just any superstars, top Superstars in the company today.
Here are the Top 5 WWE superstars that have never won the Intercontinental Championship.
#5 Goldberg
Despite being booked as the most dominant force to ever grace the WCW stage, Goldberg's time in the WWE did not truly reflect his star qualities.
The WWE decided to waste him on Raw in the Triple H era, where he had a series of nullifying boring matches with The Game.
Also read: 5 WWE superstars that deserve to be Intercontinental Champion in 2017
His time in the WWE was anti-climatic, to say the least. No wonder the WWE have brought him back to win several high-profile matches. Perhaps this is a plan to untarnish his current WWE legacy.
An Intercontinental Championship run in the future wouldn't be out of the question for Goldberg but I don't think anyone in the WWE universe is holding their breath on it.
#4 Roman Reigns
Whether we like it or not it's pretty clear by now that Roman Reigns is Vince McMahon's chosen one. For the next decade or so, the Samoan badass will be persistently lurking around the Universal title picture.
But if Vince doesn't want fans to get too tired of the former Shield member (too late) then it wouldn't surprise me to see Roman gunning for the IC title soon enough. The fact that Roman hasn't already won the title shows how much the WWE are invested in him.
They didn't slowly bed him into the main event picture as a singles competitor with mid-card titles, they threw him into world title picture straight away.
As Vince once famously said, it's not the title that makes the man, it's the man that makes the title. Reigns one day holding the title would skyrocket his status amongst the greats of the industry.
It's not a matter of if with Roman, it's a matter of when we'll see him holding the same title Razor Ramon once made famous.
#3 The Undertaker
Despite possessing a career that spells close to the three decades in the squared circle, the Phenom has surprisingly never won the Intercontinental Championship.
When you think of the elite names like Stone Cold, The Rock, Shawn Michaels & Bret Hart who have all held the title, it makes you wonder as to how Taker has avoided such an accomplishment. Even his storyline little brother Kane, who's been in his shadow for decades, has won it.
Taker is, of course, above any title in the WWE. The Phenom hasn't won a title in nearly a decade but he's still the most revered performer in the locker room today. A title doesn't add or take away anything from his unique aura.
The only time he came close to capturing the prestigious title was at In Your House 8 when he went one on one with Goldust for the title. Eventually, it would be Mankind to cost him the win thus setting up their storied rivalry for months to come.
#2 Hulk Hogan
Perhaps the most famous wrestler of all time, Hulk Hogan dominated the WWF/WWE in the 80s like no one had ever done before.
If you want to know how much of a star Hogan was back in the day, put this into context. Hulk Hogan has main evented nine Wrestlemanias, yes, NINE. That's literally unprecedented in today's era. And throughout all those main events, Hogan never once held the iconic Intercontinental belt.
The closest the icon ever got to the Intercontinental Championship was when he faced the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 6 in a Champion vs. Champion main event. Warrior came into the bout as the Intercontinental Champion and Hogan as the WWF Heavyweight Champion.
However in front of 67,000 people at the SkyDome, the unexpected would happen. Warrior would kick out of the esteemed leg drop and go onto pin the wrestling icon. After that, Hogan would never come near the IC title again.
#1 John Cena
The face that runs the place has done everything in his WWE career. He's carried the company on his back for a decade plus and in that time he's accumulated a plethora of gold. However, even after a record-setting 16th world title reign, there's still one thing big match John is yet to accomplish.
How mid-card players like Dolph Ziggler have won the Intercontinental Championship on five occasions while the greatest WWE Superstar of the modern era hasn't, is a mystery.
I guess the IC title has always been viewed as a transitional title for mid-carders to then catapult into the main event, however, the work of the Miz in 2016 has made it much more than a stepping stone championship, it's the co-main event.
As Cena continues to carry the company on his back and put over younger talents, the 39-year old should be rewarded by completing the grand slam of WWE titles. It's almost laughable that someone as dominant and prominent as Cena hasn't won every title in the company by now, however, I'm sure that will change this year.
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