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The Intercontinental Title has had a clear lineage ever since Pat Patterson became the inaugural champion after winning a fictional tournament in Rio de Janeiro. Unlike the Heavyweight title in the WWE which has gone through different incarnations and has split into two to cater to the brand split, the IC Title has rarely been messed with, save for a few design changes.
Who is the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time? Many consider Randy Savage's iconic 414-day run as the best especially considering that it ended with a five star classic against Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania 3.
What about the Honky Tonk Man with his record 454-day reign? or Pedro Morales and his two title reigns that lasted a record 619 days (combined)? While there is no clear answer, this article takes a look at the wrestlers who have won the IC Title the highest number of times.
This does not guarantee that the wrestlers who appear on the list are indeed the greatest IC champions of all time. Case in point - both the Honky Tonk Man and Randy Savage won the title just the one time, but they both reigned with the title for a longer time period than the man who holds the record for winning the belt the most number of times.
#5 Rob Van Dam - 6
We start the list with Rob Van Dam who has won the IC Title on 6 separate occassions. While that puts him at #5 in terms of reigns, he is only at #25 considering the cumulative days he spent as the Champion. Only one of his six runs lasted more than two months, but Van Dam did bring a certain prestige to the title when he beat William Regal to win it at WrestleMania 18.
RVD's regins came at a time when the Championship was a much sought after secondary title and Mr.Monday Night was booked strongly during this period. Van Dam had title feuds with the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Shelton Benjamin and Chris Jericho - he would drop the title to all of them, but would also regain the belt and win those feuds.
Van Dam would also put over a young Randy Orton in 2003 during the latter's 'Legend killer' persona, dropping the belt to Orton in a brutal match. The title rub kickstarted Orton's singles career, but Van Dam played the sympathetic baby face role to perfection.
Van Dam's final Intercontinental reign came 13 years ago, just before WWE pushed him to the main event role with that memorable Money in the Bank cash-in against John Cena at ECW One night stand. RVD might not have been able to stay in that spot for long, but he sure made his mark in the company.
#4 Jeff Jarrett - 6
There have been a lot of criticisms regarding the star power of Jeff Jarrett, especially during his reigns as World Champion in WCW and later TNA. While WWE documentaries looking back at the Attitude Era tend to dismiss him as someone who couldn't draw, the fact remains that Vince McMahon believed in him strong enough to give him 6 runs with the IC Title at a time winning any title in the WWE was considered an achievement.
Jarrett held the record for most IC Title reigns at one point and he sure beat an eclectic set of opponents to win the belt. Jarrett won the title from Razor Ramon (2) and a very young Edge, but also had title wins over the likes of Bob Holly, D'lo Brown and the Godfather. It is also interesting to note that Jarrett won the first three of his titles over a five-month period in 1995 whereas the last three titles came over a similar period in 1999.
Jarrett's final reign would end at the hands of Chyna - a match that Jarrett worked without a contract and allegedly held Vince McMahon up for a huge payday to drop the title to a woman. The action would see Jarrett blackballed from the WWE for 20 years.
#3 Dolph Ziggler - 6
Dolph Ziggler has also won the Intercontinental Title on six different occasions, with more days as Champion that both Rob Van Dam and Jeff Jarrett. Ziggler's title wins came at a time when the value of the Championship had deteriorated a bit, but his in-ring work cannot be questioned.
Ziggler won the title for the first time in 2010, beating Kofi Kingston to start a 160 day title run. The inaugural run would be the best of Ziggler's career as none of his five subsequent runs lasted more than 70 days.
Ziggler would win the title from the likes of Luke Harper and even Seth Rollins in 2018, but his most memorable program was with The Miz. The two Cleveland natives were among the top mid-carders in the company during this decade and it was inevitable that they would clash for the secondary title. The two would exchange titles five times over multiple pay-per-views, with their last feud over the title coming in 2016.
Ziggler might never become a World Champion again in the WWE, but he can sure look ahead to more runs with the IC belt.
#2 The Miz - 8
Speaking of The Miz, he has been the epitome of a performer using a title win to make himself relevant. All of Miz's IC Title wins have come across as monumental as the A-lister has been careful to bring the focus to the belt in his ensuing feuds.
A run with the United States title had built Miz as a credible singles Superstar in 2010, which eventually led to his WWE Championship run. While the latter wasn't really deemed a success, Miz was back to what he does best a year later - taking a secondary Championship and elevating himself. He would beat Christian to win the Intercontinental Title for the first time, starting off another period of prominence.
Further title wins would come against the likes of Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, and Zack Ryder. Being the IC Champion would also elevate Miz to feud in the main event, with programs involving Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.
Miz is certainly a prime candidate for being considered as the best Intercontinental Champion of all time, as his 8 runs with the belt are the second most ever while his combined 599-day run is only 20 days fewer than Pedro Morales' all time record.
Another run or two with the belt is increasingly likely for the A-lister, which would definitely see him top the list in both the reigns count as well as total days as the Champ.
#1 Chris Jericho - 9
The man with the most Intercontinental Title wins of all time is none other than the current AEW World Champion, Chris Jericho. Jericho has won the title 9 times - against the likes of Chyna (2), Chris Benoit (2), Rob Van Dam (2), Christian, Jeff Hardy, and Rey Mysterio.
While Jericho is a 6-time World Champion, his near two-decade career in the WWE only saw him challenge for the World Title during a few years and he was resigned to being an upper middle card act for the majority of his time. This led to numerous IC title reigns for Jericho with him putting over younger talent during many of the reigns.
The only problem with Jericho's reigns has been the fact that none of them were long enough to build him up as the Champion. Only his title run in 2008 lasted more than three months and that was more due to Y2J being involved in non-title feuds with the likes of Shawn Michaels and Batista than anything else.
In fact, there are as many as 8 wrestlers who have won the IC Title two times or less but have more combined days as Champion than Jericho. The Miz has held the title for nearly twice the number of days as Jericho, with the 'Painmaker' only #16 in the list of wrestlers with most days as Champion, below the likes of Shelton Benjamin and Wade Barrett.
Another title run for Jericho looks unlikely, given his current stint at AEW.
