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If Shinsuke Nakamura closes out the year as the Intercontinental Champion, there would have been 45 title changes for the prestigious mid-card title in this decade. It is really a testament to how global the WWE has become this decade, with the first Champion in the 2010s - Drew Mcintyre as well as the last Champion being born outside the United States.
While the IC title no longer has the prestige it once held, it is still a powerful tool to get up-and-coming stars over and get future main eventers ready for the big push. The likes of Edge, Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho successfully used IC title wins to convince management that they should be considered for a World title run.
This list takes a look at 2010-2019 and the five superstars who have had the most runs with the IC title during that time.
#5 Dean Ambrose - 3
The former avatar of Jon Moxley won the Intercontinental title three times during his stint in the WWE and takes fifth place in this list. Ambrose's runs with the title were hardly memorable and two out of three times, he would lose the title to the same person whom he beat for it.
Ambrose's first win came at TLC 2015 when he beat Kevin Owens for the title. He would lose the belt back to Owens just over two months later in a multi-person match. Ambrose's second reign would last over 5 months, with The Miz being the one to lose and regain the title from him this time.
His final title run came in December 2018, when he beat his former Shield teammate Seth Rollins for the belt. Amborse had decided not to renew his WWE contract by then and the WWE would book him to lose the belt in under a month, this time to Bobby Lashley in a triple threat match also involving Rollins
#4 Kofi Kingston - 3
Kofi Kingston is a four-time Intercontinental Champion, with three of his reigns coming in this decade. Making his debut on the ECW brand in 2007, Kingston quickly became a solid mid-card act for the company and it was only natural that he would be given a run with the 'Workhorse's Championship' that was the Intercontinental title.
Kingston's first title win would come in 2008 when WWE needed to free up the Intercontinental Championship from Chris Jericho in order to have the latter ready for a main event feud with Shawn Michaels.
Kofi would be the beneficiary of the first IC title change of this decade when he took the belt away from an over pushed Drew McIntyre in 2010. He would lose the title to Dolph Ziggler two months later.
Kingston would have a measure of revenge over Ziggler when he beat the Vickie Guerrero-managed Ziggler for the belt on January 7, 2011. Guerrero would order a rematch to happen immediately, but Kingston would pin Ziggler once again.
The final IC title run for Kofi would come in 2012, when a title change was done to hype the new show WWE Main Event. Kofi would beat Miz on the second episode of Main Event. He would lose the title 74 days later to Wade Barrett. Speaking of whom...
#3 Wade Barrett - 5
With four IC title reigns in five years, one can't help feeling that Wade 'Bad News' Barrett would have had many more runs with a secondary Championship had he chosen to remain with the WWE.
Debuting with a short initial run on the main roster as Chris Jericho's lackey, Barrett would come into his own as the leader of the Nexus, which thrust him on to the main event scene. Feuds with the likes of John Cena and Randy Orton would follow, but once CM Punk pushed him off a cage and took over the leadership of the Nexus within a year, it was clear that Barrett's main event days were a thing of the past.
He would slide down to the mid-card and became a solid hand there, beating Kofi Kingston for his first IC title. He would have the ignominy of losing the belt to the horrible Ezekial Jackson, but further title wins against Kingston, The Miz and Big E would follow.
Barrett's final run with the Championship came in early 2015 when he was chosen as the man to kill Dolph Ziggler's momentum as a face. He would lose the title in a terrific ladder match at Wrestlemania 31 to Daniel Bryan.
#2 Dolph Ziggler - 6
Dolph Ziggler has had an interesting if not legendary career in the WWE.
Making his debut as part of the detested Spirit Squad, he was part of main even feuds with the likes of Triple H and Shawn Michales. When the male cheerleader angle ran its course, Ziggler was repackaged to be a part of an even worse angle - being caddy to the Latino Chavo Guerrero, who went by the moniker of Kerwin White with the offensive 'If it ain't white, it ain't right' catchphrase.
Finally allowed to debut on Smackdown as Dolph Ziggler, the Show Off started turning heads with his athleticism and soon came under the tutelage of Smackdown GM Vickie Guerrero. He would win his first IC title during this time, beating Kofi Kingston for the belt.
A World title-winning feud with the reluctant baby face Alberto Del Rio would result in heel Ziggler getting cheered by the fans. A year later, Ziggler would be a full-blown fan favourite and he would enter into a feud with the IC Champion Miz. Ziggler would win the IC title twice during this feud, and then surprisingly became the sole survivor at Survivor Series to kick The Authority out of power.
This would result in a renewed but short push for Ziggler, and he would win the IC title for the fourth time, this time at the expsense of Luke Harper.
The lauch of SmackDown Live would see Ziggler turn heads with some fiery promos, eventually resulting in another IC title run at the expense of the Miz. Ziggler's final turn with the belt would come in July 2018, when he finally beat a main eventer for the belt, ending Seth Rollins' first IC title run.
#1 The Miz - 8
With eight title wins in seven years, The Miz is synonymous with the Intercontinental Championship. No other WWE superstar has had such a symbiotic relationship with a mid-card title like the Miz - he has used the belt to elevate himself while lending credibility to the Championship as well.
It was never more evident than during his run with the belt in 2017. With the World Champion Brock Lesnar making infrequent appearances, it was left to the IC Champion to carry the main event feud on Raw. With a deeply engrossing feud against The Shield, Miz carried the company on his back and showed just how valuable he could be, resulting in fans demanding a WWE title opportunity for the once detested star.
Miz has taken the IC title off both Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose and his feud with Dolph Ziggler over the years has been one of the defining mid-card angles of the decade. Miz has also been positioned as the heel to crush the dreams of popular babyfaces, ending the title reigns of both Christian and Zack Ryder in the past.
With him just one short of Chris Jericho's record 9 Intercontinental title reigns, don't bet against The Miz to surpass 'Le Champion' in the near future.
