The Intercontinental Championship has been killed again?

[FunKay P. Lovecraft]

If I had a pound for every time I see a thread saying "Oh the IC title is dead" or "IC Title is Devalued...AGAIN!" I would probably be able to buy...well I'd be able to buy CM Punk's latest shirt at least. Anyway, no the IC title isn't "dead" and it certainly hasn't been "killed". The IC title is pretty much where it has always been; it's a midcard championship held by a diverse range of older stars bouncing from main event to midcard and midcarders WWE wants to push. It has been that way ever since the WWE stopped using it as a comedic prop for Santino (and I liked the Honk-o-meter for the record)

Despite what many believe, Cody Rhodes' reign was a fairly major non-event having defended it feverishly (his words) for about a week before ultimately not putting it up for grabs for months at a time. Since then the belt has floated between multiple former world champions and up and comers with credibility and currently it is held by a guy WWE clearly wants to push as a major talent in the future in Wade Barrett. Will his reign set the world on fire? Probably not. Will it do the job of occupying him and advancing his ascension towards the upper echelon in WWE? Probably. And that at the end of the day is what the IC title is basically for.

[berlinbrawler]

The IC title has suffered greatly in the late 90 and throughout the entire 2000s. For many years it was this hot potato that pretty much anyone could hold for a couple of weeks. Irrecoverably gone are the days of guys like Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat or Shawn Michaels lending the belt credibility and making it at times almost hotter than the main belt.

It used to be that when a wrestler had proved his potential they rewarded him with a run with the IC belt. Somewhere down the line the formula changed. All of a sudden they put the belt on pretty much anyone who walked in the door, hoping that giving him the belt would make him a star. Add to that the introduction of the European title, the Hardcore title, the Cruiserweight title and the plethora of WCW belts that floated around at some point. That killed the belt.

Every now and then it seems as if there is a life sign back in the belt. The biggest was when Cody reintroduced the classic belt design. But every time something like that happens, the spark of life fizzles out again and before you know it someone who has no business calling himself a champion runs around with it, gets no mic time whatsoever and makes the belt seem about as prestigious as the bucket of slob Henry Godwinn used to carry around.

Too great is the damage done to the belt. It also doesn't help that it is no longer the number 2 belt, as it used to be back in the day. The World Heavyweight title is today what the IC belt used to be in the 80 and early 90s. That makes the IC belt a distant number 3. Difficult to care about that.

Will Wade Barrett revive it? Nope. He's actually a great candidate for the belt, but the days of memorable IC title runs are gone, no matter who gets to carry it.

[Rainbow Yaz]

The IC title has always been a midcard title. There was a period of time when the WWE title was rarely defended outside PPVs, hell sometimes the actual champ would only wrestle on PPVs, and during that time the IC title probably was more prominent, but it was still a midcard title. Never has it been and never will it be a main event belt. Yes, main event guys have held it while they were certified main eventers, but that is only a temporary boost to the title. Give it another 15 or so years and some of the guys who have held the title in the recent past will be mentioned along the names like Savage and Seamboat and Hennig.