Wrestling Gold: The History of the WWE Intercontinental Championship, Pt. 4
For this edition of Wrestling Gold, I present the WWE Intercontinental Championship!
The title was established in September 1979, but before that it was the WWF North American Heavyweight Championship. Established just seven months beforehand, the North American title is seen as the predecessor to the Intercontinental title.
The North American Heavyweight Championship was unified with the South American Heavyweight Championship to create the Intercontinental Championship, but some believe there was no unification and it was just said to explain the introduction of the new title.
WWE doesn’t recognize the two titles as the same, and they’re most likely not. Since the belt is a predecessor to the intercontinental title and was “unified” with another to create it, I included its brief existence.
On May 6, 2002, the title was renamed the WWE Intercontinental Championship due to the issues over the initials “WWF” with the World Wildlife Fund. It would be briefly abandoned in October when it was unified with the World Heavyweight Championship.
The title would return seven months later and has been active ever since.
In Part 1 of the title, the champions of the 1980s were presented, which saw the first 16 champions hold the belt. In Part 2, the 43 champions of the 1990s came up. Last time in Part 3, you saw the 2000s and the 67 titleholders of that decade.
For final piece of the WWE Intercontinental Championship, the 12 champions of this decade so far will be presented!
Kofi Kingston
1 of 13Defeated: Drew McIntyre
Where: Detroit, Mich.
When: May 23, 2010
Event: Over the Limit
Title Reign: 66 days
WWE Highlights:
- Four-time WWE intercontinental champion
- Two-time WWE United States champion
Dolph Ziggler
2 of 13Defeated: Kofi Kingston
Where: Laredo, Texas
When: July 28, 2010
Event: SmackDown
Title Reign: 160 days
WWE Highlights:
FCW Highlights:
- Two-time FCW Florida tag team champion
Kofi Kingston
3 of 13Defeated: Dolph Ziggler
Where: Tucson, Ariz.
When: Jan. 4, 2011
Event: SmackDown
Title Reign: 77 days
WWE highlights:
- One-time WWE world tag team champion
- Two-time WWE tag team champion
Wade Barrett
4 of 13Defeated: Kofi Kingston
Where: Columbus, Ohio
When: March 22, 2011
Event: SmackDown
Title Reign: 89 days
WWE Highlights:
- Two-time WWE intercontinental champion
- NXT Season One winner
- 2010 Slammy Award for Shocker of the Year
FCW Highlights:
- One-time FCW Florida tag team champion
Ezekiel Jackson
5 of 13Defeated: Wade Barrett
Where: Washington, D.C.
When: June 19, 2011
Event: Capital Punishment
Title Reign: 51 days
WWE highlights:
- One-time ECW world heavyweight champion
- One-time WWE intercontinental champion
Cody Rhodes
6 of 13Defeated: Ezekiel Jackson
Where: Sacramento, Calif.
When: Aug. 9, 2011
Event: SmackDown
Title Reign: 236 days
WWE Highlights:
- Two-time WWE intercontinental champion
- Three-time WWE world tag team champion
- One-time WWE tag team champion
- 2010 Slammy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Baby Oil Application
The Big Show
7 of 13Defeated: Cody Rhodes
Where: Miami, Fla.
When: April 1, 2012
Event: WrestleMania XXVIII
Title Reign: 28 days
WWE Highlights:
- Two-time WWE champion
- Two-time world heavyweight champion
- One-time ECW world heavyweight champion
- One-time WWE intercontinental champion
- Five-time WWE world tag team champion
- Three-time WWE tag team champion
- One-time WWE United States champion
- Three-time WWE hardcore champion
- 2009 Slammy Award for Tag Team of the Year as Jeri-Show with Chris Jericho
- 2011 Slammy Award for Holy $#!+ Moment of the Year
- 2012 Slammy Award for Betrayal of the Year
WCW Highlights:
- Two-time WCW world heavyweight champion
- Three-time WCW world tag team champion
- 1996 World War 3 winner
- 1996 King of Cable
Other career highlights:
- Nickelodeon’s Slime Wrestling World Nickelodeon
Cody Rhodes
8 of 13Defeated: The Big Show
Where: Chicago, Ill.
When: April 29, 2012
Event: Extreme Rules
Title Reign: 21 days
Other career highlights:
- One-time OVW heavyweight champion
- One-time OVW television champion
- One-time OVW Southern tag team champion
Christian
9 of 13Defeated: Cody Rhodes
Where: Raleigh, N.C.
When: May 20, 2012
Event: Over the Limit
Title Reign: 64 days
WWE Highlights:
- Two-time world heavyweight champion
- Two-time ECW world heavyweight champion
- Four-time WWE intercontinental champion
- Nine-time WWE world tag team champion
- One-time WWE European champion
- One-time WWE hardcore champion
- One-time WWE light heavyweight champion
Other career highlights:
- Two-time NWA world heavyweight champion
- One-time ECWA heavyweight champion
- One-time PCW heavyweight champion
The Miz
10 of 13Defeated: Christian
Where: St. Louis, Mo.
When: July 23, 2012
Event: Raw 1000
Title Reign: 85 days
WWE Highlights:
- One-time WWE world heavyweight champion
- One-time WWE intercontinental champion
- Two-time WWE world tag team champion
- Three-time WWE tag team champion
- Two-time WWE United States champion
- 2008 Slammy Awards for Tag Team of the Year with John Morrison and Best WWE.com Exclusive (The Dirt Sheet)
- 2010 Raw Money in the Bank winner
Other career highlights:
- One-time OVW Southern tag team champion
- One-time Deep South heavyweight champion
Kofi Kingston
11 of 13Defeated: The Miz
Where: Memphis, Tn.
When: Oct. 16, 2012
Event: Main Event
Title Reign: 75 days
WWE Highlights:
- 2012 Slammy Award for Tell Me I Did Not Just See That
Wade Barrett
12 of 13Defeated: Kofi Kingston
Where: Washington, D.C.
When: Dec. 29, 2012
Event: Raw
Title Reign: 18 days and counting
Other career highlights:
- One-time OVW Southern tag team champion
- One-time Dropkixx TWC European heavyweight champion
Statistics and Final Thoughts
13 of 13Longest 10s Reign So Far: Cody Rhodes (236 days)
Shortest 10s Reign So Far: Cody Rhodes (21 days)
Most Reigns: Chris Jericho (nine-time champion)
Longest Overall Title Reign: The Honky Tonk Man (454 days)
Longest Combined Title Reign: Pedro Morales (two reigns totaling 619 days)
Shortest Overall Title Reign: Dean Douglas (11 minutes)
The WWE Intercontinental Championship has a long and rich history. It has seen more than a dozen superstars elevated to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, including the likes of Randy Savage, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, the Rock, Steve Austin, Edge and Chris Jericho.
The title would also see 14 future inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame, including Pat Patterson, Don Muraco, Tito Santana, Ricky Steamboat and Mr. Perfect.
This title was once a great stepping stone to the top of the mountain, but it has lost its meaning over the years.
If memory serves me correct, the last time the WWE Intercontinental Championship elevated anyone to the World Heavyweight Championship was the 2003-2004 reign of Randy Orton. I suppose you could count Dolph Ziggler, who held the World Heavyweight Championship for the span of an episode of SmackDown seven months after winning this title, but since he was handed the title and didn’t have a real reign as champion, I personally don’t count it.
While former holders of the WWE and World Heavyweight Championship have also held this title after Orton, the fact remains that they were already in the main event. The intercontinental title took Orton from the midcard and shot him to the main event, a feat that has not been duplicated since.
There is hope, though. The title seems to be gaining some of its meaning back with Wade Barrett as champion. He has been competing in main-event-level matches, and it seems like WWE is building him up for a spot on top.
For the first time in years, the WWE Intercontinental Championship looks to be elevating a superstar to the main event, and it could be happening soon!
Thanks for reading!
Next up, Ring of Honor will get the spotlight in the series! Next week will see the history of the ROH World Tag Team Championship, and I may include the Television Championship in there as well since the title has a short history. I haven’t decided about that yet, though.
Previous Installments
WWE Divas│TNA Knockouts│TNA Knockouts Tag│WWE Tag│TNA Tag│Shimmer│WWE US 1│WWE US 2│TNA TV│TNA X-Division│ WWE IC 1│WWE IC 2│WWE IC 3
Abandoned Series
WWE Women’s│WWE European│ECW Television│WCW Hardcore│WCW US Tag Team│WWF Martial Arts│WWF International│WCW Women’s│ECW World│WWE Cruiserweight│WWF Light Weight│ECW Tag Team│FTW World│WCW 6-Man Tag Team│Million Dollar│WWF Junior│WWF Women’s Tag Team│WCW International│ WCW TV pt.1│WCW TV pt. 2│WWE Hardcore │WCW Tag Team pt. 1│WCW Tag Team pt. 2│World Tag Team pt. 1│World Tag Team pt. 2│ World Tag Team pt. 3│World Tag Team pt. 4│WWWF USA
Sources
Information on wrestler title histories provided by Wikipedia
Title "Wrestling Gold" thought up by Jeff D. Gorman
Don’t forget to hit me up on Twitter, where I always follow back fellow wrestling fans and usually tweet during the shows!
