Intercontinental Championship - Who do you think of?

[Hollywood Naitch]

From when I became a BIG wrestling fan in the late 90s, Chris Jericho has been synonomous with the belt. While other great wrestlers have held the title since then, such as Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit and Rey Mysterio, Jericho has always climbed back to the top, and reclaimed the gold. He has held the belt more times than any other wrestler, and he brings instant credibility to the title, unlike others who are given the belt to try and give THEM credibility. When you give the belt to a guy like Y2J, you are instantly making the title more prestigious, as he is one of the best in the world.

While Jericho has flirted with the main event on occasion, and is a multi-time world champion, he has never remained at main event level for long periods of time, he has never quite cracked it as an Undertaker/HHH/Shawn Michaels level main eventer. If anything he is one rung below them on the ladder, and can interchange between competing for the world titles, and the IC title on the level below. You could argue he is one rung higher than most other guys who compete for the IC title, such as Kingston or JoMo.

Jericho has found his perfect spot at IC level, with the opportunity to compete for the big belts on occasion, he never fails to put on a good show, and his name will always be remembered in regards to the Intercontinental Championship. To have been around the division, holding the belt 9 times over more than a decade shows how important he has been to the IC title, and the division would have been alot poorer without Jericho and his contributions.

 

[Dyno Kid]

For me the names would be:

Pedro Morales
Greg Valentine
Don Muraco

Call me Old School but the title seemed so much more important back in their days as champs. Pedro and Muraco had some great matches battling for the title as did Valentine and Tito Santana !

 

[Davi323]

Macho Man and Steamboat, for me this was no contest whatsoever. I have never made it a secret that my all-time favorite match ever is their IC title match at Wrestlemania III. The Intercontinental title to me, was never as important as it was in 1987. Their feud was really a world title level feud being fought over a mid-card belt. Because I have so much love for that match, I have to have the love for the participants in that match.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

The first name that popped into my mind was that of Mr Perfect. He was the quinnessential midcarder back in the early 90's, a precursor to the likes of a Chris Benoit but with better mic skills. He always seemed to be on the hunt for the intercontinental title and when such a good wrestler chases the title, it automatically raises the prestige of the title. Future main eventers like Bret Hart and HBK feuded with Perfect over the intercontinental championship and both feuds produced some great matches and also pushed HBK and Bret towards the main event.

The fact that he never even chased the WWF title at any point of his career and the fact that his great feuds were built around the IC title makes me associate Mr Perfect with the Intercontinental Championship.

 

[King Patrick Star]

When I think of the WWE Intercontinental Championship, the Superstars that come to mind are Pat Patterson for being the first Intercontinental Champion, Chris Jericho for winning the Title 9 times (and cause he’s my favorite Superstar of all time), and Pedro Morales for holding the Title for a combined 619 days.

 

[nightmare]

giving this one to jericho. he had various battles for that strap, & in some ways helped bring credibility back to the strap. there are alot of people thru the years that gave it meaning, but jericho makes a lasting impression in my opionion. at times he made the mid-card title feuds look as good as the main events.

 

[MancMark]

Well, for me it's Jericho. When he held the belt, the belt he gave it a bit of prestige. Some people have held this strap and you literally couldn't give 2 shits, but every single time Jericho held it, you cared a little bit more. Also that match he had with Benoit for it at Royal Rumble 2001 (I think it was '01) was brilliant.

Another person I think of when I picture the IC title, is Jeff Jarrett. Not because I like him, but because I remember him beating Edge at Fully Loaded 1999. He stood in the ring afterwards for ages putting the belt on, then Austin ran about a half a mile down to the ring and stunnered him for no reason other than to tell Undertaker he was going to bust him open. That moment never fails to make me laugh.