Intercontinental Championship Match Could Be Feel-Good Story of WrestleMania 32

The WWE Intercontinental Championship ladder match at WrestleMania 32 is loaded with both talent and motivation.

Just about every name in the match has seen the highest of highs before crashing down to earth faster than they will when falling off the ladder.

This seven-man match is a microcosm of the careers of its participants. Most WWE Superstars will receive their moments of glory while ascending to the heavens before ultimately being cast aside without notice, only to blend in against their wills.

But it's that type of bittersweet feeling that should fuel Zack Ryder, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Sin Cara, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz and Stardust to run away as the surprise choice as best match of the night.

This grouping is one of character and resilience. There's the former WrestleMania main eventer (Miz), who gradually tumbled down the roster after the best year of his career. Now he's a utility player. The same can be said of Ziggler, whose collapse from feel-good world champion to afterthought was even quicker and more violent.

There's the Internet sensation (Ryder), who deserves much of the credit for WWE's ongoing love affair with social media. WWE.com recently touted its diamond play button on YouTube after surpassing 10 million subscribers.

Ryder was a WWE YouTube sensation before the promotion even saw the value in it. Where's the Long Island pioneer now? He's a bit player who needed an injury to Neville, per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Marc Middleton of WrestlingInc.com), to get back into the big stage of WrestleMania.

Sin Cara plays second fiddle to his tag team partner, underdog sensation Kalisto, who gets his own one-on-one match at WrestleMania against Ryback for the United States Championship.

Remember when Cody Rhodes—along with Goldust—was the hottest thing in WWE? Their win over The Shield at Battleground in 2013 was like watching the end of Hoosiers. Now he makes a living pretending to be an extra on Mad Max: Fury Road.

Zayn hit the ground running as a surprise challenger of the John Cena United States Open Challenge. After suffering an injury upon his debut, he must compete in a crowded match for a secondary title as a forgotten man beneath a busy WrestleMania season.

It's fitting that, as the reigning champion and rising heel, Owens is the only competitor who won't depress people when discussing his career arch in WWE to this point. This is a hungry field of challengers that has been left for dead. The combination of athleticism, a ladder, piss and vinegar will combine to make WWE's largest crowd stop in its tracks.

The most memorable match at WrestleMania 32 just might be for one of the more meaningless championships. And with such proximity to disappointment and frustration, it could work to define the Intercontinental Championship.

Based on the theme of these combatants, on April 3, this will be a championship with implications of resurgence and a last chance. A beacon of hope and, in a potential new era the following night, change.

If the Intercontinental Championship changes hands at WrestleMania, it will be a feel-good story no matter who wins it.

 Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report. LIKE him on Facebook and listen to him on WrestleZone Daily.