Ryback Has Injected New Life into the WWE Intercontinental Championship

Before recently, the Intercontinental Championship was a joke in the eyes of the WWE Universe. Since winning it at May's Elimination Chamber event, however, Ryback has brought the title back to prominence and has made it feel meaningful again.

After a disappointing 2014, Ryback revitalized his career upon coming back from injury in October as a babyface.

Returning to his "Feed Me More" roots, he built a fanbase for himself and gradually worked his way up the WWE ladder. While the ball was dropped on his feud with Rusev earlier in the year, he remained over with the audience and maintained his momentum with more wins than losses in singles competition.

He wasn't thought to be a strong candidate to capture the vacant Intercontinental Championship at Elimination Chamber, but when he did, the title win couldn't have made more sense.

Not only has he been deserving of a championship run for some time now, but he's also the perfect person to be holding the intercontinental title at the moment. From being able to connect with a crowd to contesting a solid match to holding his own on the microphone, he has all the necessary attributes to be a successful titleholder.

Plus, he's shown signs of character development in recent months. He opened up to the audience on the final Raw of 2014 and stepped up his mic work significantly in the months that followed, to the point where he's been a pleasure to listen to on commentary.

Credit: WWE.com

It's been several years if not more since the Intercontinental Championship was last considered to be "prestigious." At one point in the 1980s and early '90s, it was seen as the stepping stone to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but it hasn't been that way in close to a decade.

When looking at the list of Superstars who have held the title in the last 10 years, nearly none of them went on to win world title gold (with the obvious exception of those who had already been world champ). Randy Orton, who held the strap for the better part of 2004, was the last person to lose it and ascend to the main event level, where he seized the World Heavyweight Championship.

For whatever reason, WWE tends to make its midcard champions lose non-title matches more often than not, making both them and the title they hold look weak in the process. Bad News Barrett fell victim to that trend during his reign in the first few months of 2015 and has yet to fully recover from the unbelievably bad booking he suffered.

Thankfully, the same has yet to happen to Ryback. He's largely been protected since coming back as a babyface and doesn't lose frequently, if at all, which bodes well for the title currently in his possession.

With Daniel Bryan, WWE had a golden opportunity to put the title on someone fans could see as a conceivable champion, but an unfortunate injury cut his reign short. Meanwhile, The Big Guy has been doing what Bryan never got the chance to: return the title to relevance.

Granted, Ryback has reigned as champion for only a little over a month now, but he's already been booked better than anyone who has held the belt in recent years. Additionally, his on-going feud with The Miz and Big Show has been a treat to watch unfold.

Fans didn't have high hopes for the feud when it first kicked off, but to their credit, Ryback, Show and Miz have worked very well together, with their pending Triple Threat title match a welcome addition to the Battleground card.

Of course, Big Show is past his prime, and many members of the WWE Universe don't wish to see him stick around much longer, but at the very least, his rivalry with Ryback and Miz has been something new. As for Miz, he's been doing the best work of his career for the past year, and it's encouraging to see him prominently featured in a worthwhile program for once.

As for Ryback, he's exactly where he needs to be right now and is finally being used the way he should have been from his main roster arrival. Whether he'll take the next step to superstardom once he's finished with the highly desirable prize remains to be seen, but there's no questioning he's earned it.

With John Cena bringing the United States Championship to new heights and Ryback ripping it up as intercontinental champion on a weekly basis, the immediate future of WWE's midcard division is undoubtedly bright.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling. 

Follow @WrestleRant