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WWE Intercontinental Championship

The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a championship created by WWE, currently defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE United States Championship on Raw.

The championship was established by the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on September 1, 1979, as a result of the WWF North American Heavyweight Championship being unified with an apocryphal South American Heavyweight Championship, with Pat Patterson as the inaugural champion.

In November 2001, the WCW United States Championship was unified into the Intercontinental Championship. In 2002, after the introduction of the first brand split, it became exclusive to Raw and the WWF was renamed WWE. Later that year, the European and Hardcore Championships were unified into the Intercontinental Championship, which itself was unified into the World Heavyweight Championship. The next year, it was reactivated for Raw, followed by the United States Championship's reactivation as a counterpart championship on SmackDown. The Intercontinental Championship has switched between brands over the years, usually as a result of the WWE Draft; the 2019 Superstar Shake-up moved the title to SmackDown.

Reigns:[]

No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Pat Patterson September 1, 1979 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1 232 Patterson became the first champion as a result of defeating Ted DiBiase to win the WWF North American Heavyweight Championship on June 19, 1979 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and defeating Johnny Rodz in a fictional tournament final in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to unify the North American Heavyweight Championship with the fictional South American Heavyweight Championship to create the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship.
2 Ken Patera April 21, 1980 WWF on MSG Network New York, NY 1 230
3 Pedro Morales December 8, 1980 WWF New York, NY 1 193
4 Don Muraco June 20, 1981 WWF Philadelphia, PA 1 155
5 Pedro Morales November 23, 1981 WWF on MSG Network New York, NY 2 424
6 Don Muraco January 22, 1983 WWF on MSG Network New York, NY 2 384
7 Tito Santana February 11, 1984 WWF Boston, MA 1 226
8 Greg Valentine October 13, 1984 Maple Leaf Wrestling London, ON, Canada 1 285
9 Tito Santana July 6, 1985 House show Baltimore, MD 2 217
10 Randy Savage February 8, 1986 WWF Boston, MA 1 414
11 Ricky Steamboat March 29, 1987 WrestleMania III Pontiac, MI 1 65
12 The Honky Tonk Man June 13, 1987 Superstars of Wrestling Buffalo, NY 1 454
13 The Ultimate Warrior August 29, 1988 SummerSlam New York, NY 1 216
14 Rick Rude April 2, 1989 WrestleMania V Atlantic City, NJ 1 148
15 The Ultimate Warrior August 28, 1989 SummerSlam East Rutherford, NJ 2 216
Vacated April 3, 1990 Wrestling Challenge Syracuse, NY Warrior relinquished the title after winning the WWF Championship in order to focus on defending the latter.
16 Mr. Perfect May 19, 1990 Superstars of Wrestling Austin, TX 1 126 Defeated Tito Santana in a tournament final for the vacant title.
17 The Texas Tornado August 27, 1990 SummerSlam Philadelphia, PA 1 84
18 Mr. Perfect December 15, 1990 Superstars of Wrestling Rochester, NY 2 280
19 Bret Hart August 26, 1991 SummerSlam New York, NY 1 144
20 The Mountie January 17, 1992 House show Springfield, MA 1 2
21 Roddy Piper January 19, 1992 Royal Rumble Albany, NY 1 77
22 Bret Hart April 5, 1992 WrestleMania VIII Indianapolis, IN 2 146
23 The British Bulldog August 29, 1992 SummerSlam London, England 1 59
24 Shawn Michaels November 14, 1992 Saturday Night's Main Event XXXI Terre Haute, IN 1 202
25 Marty Jannetty May 17, 1993 Raw New York, NY 1 20
26 Shawn Michaels June 6, 1993 House show Albany, NY 2 113
Vacated September 27, 1993 Shawn Michaels was stripped of the title for failing to defend it within thirty days.
27 Razor Ramon October 11, 1993 Raw New Haven, CT 1 198 Ramon and Rick Martel were the final two participants in a battle royal. Ramon then defeated Martel for the vacant title. However, Shawn Michaels returned in November 1993, claiming to be the legitimate champion as nobody defeated him. Ramon went on to defeat Michaels in a ladder match on March 20, 1994 at WrestleMania X.
28 Diesel April 30, 1994 Superstars Rochester, NY 1 138
29 Razor Ramon August 29, 1994 SummerSlam Chicago, IL 2 146
30 Jeff Jarrett January 22, 1995 Royal Rumble Tampa, FL 1 94
Vacated April 30, 1995 Action Zone Moline, IL Held up when match between Jeff Jarrett and Bob "Spark Plug" Holly ended in controversy.
31 Jeff Jarrett May 7, 1995 Action Zone Moline, IL 2 23 Defeated Bob Holly in a rematch for the vacant title.
32 Razor Ramon May 19, 1995 House show Montreal QC, Canada 3 3
33 Jeff Jarrett May 22 1995 House show Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada 3 62
34 Shawn Michaels July 23, 1995 In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks Nashville, TN 3 91
35 Dean Douglas October 22, 1995 In Your House 4: Great White North Winnipeg, MB, Canada 1 <1 Won the title by forfeit due to Shawn Michaels being injured on October 14, 1995.
36 Razor Ramon October 22, 1995 In Your House 4: Great White North Winnipeg, MB, Canada 4 91
37 Goldust January 21, 1996 Royal Rumble Fresno, CA 1 64
Vacated April 15, 1996 Raw San Bernardino, CA Held up when a title defense against Savio Vega ended in a no contest.
38 Goldust April 22, 1996 Raw San Bernardino, CA 2 83 Defeated Savio Vega in a rematch for the vacant championship.
39 Ahmed Johnson June 23, 1996 King of the Ring Milwaukee, WI 1 58
Vacated August 19, 1996 Raw Seattle, WA Ahmed Johnson forfeited the championship after being attacked by the debuting Faarooq after winning an eleven-man battle royal.
40 Marc Mero September 23, 1996 Raw Hershey, PA 1 28 Defeated Faarooq in a tournament final for the vacant championship.
41 Hunter Hearst Helmsley October 21, 1996 Raw Fort Wayne, IN 1 115
42 Rocky Maivia February 13, 1997 Raw Lowell, MA 1 73
43 Owen Hart April 28, 1997 Raw Omaha, NE 1 97
44 Stone Cold Steve Austin August 3, 1997 SummerSlam East Rutherford, NJ 1 64
Vacated September 8, 1997 Vacated due to a neck injury that Stone Cold Steve Austin suffered in winning the championship.
45 Owen Hart October 5, 1997 Badd Blood: In Your House St. Louis, MO 2 35 Defeated Faarooq in a tournament final for the vacant championship.
46 Stone Cold Steve Austin November 9, 1997 Survivor Series Montreal, QC, Canada 2 29
47 The Rock December 8, 1997 Raw Portland, ME 2 264 Stone Cold Steve Austin handed the championship belt to The Rock, who was formerly known as Rocky Maivia.
48 Triple H August 30, 1998 SummerSlam New York, NY 2 44 Triple H was formerly known as Hunter Hearst Helmsley.
Vacated October 9, 1998 Vacated due to injury.
49 Ken Shamrock October 12, 1998 Raw Uniondale, NY 1 125 Defeated X-Pac in a tournament final for the vacant championship.
50 Val Venis February 14, 1999 St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House Memphis, TN 1 29
51 Road Dogg March 15, 1999 Raw San Jose, CA 1 14
52 Goldust March 29, 1999 Raw East Rutherford, NJ 3 14
53 The Godfather April 12, 1999 Raw Detroit, MI 1 43
54 Jeff Jarrett May 31, 1999 Raw Moline, IL 4 54
55 Edge July 24, 1999 House show Toronto, ON, Canada 1 1
56 Jeff Jarrett July 25, 1999 Fully Loaded Buffalo, NY 5 1
57 D'Lo Brown July 26, 1999 Raw Columbus, OH 1 27 This was a Winner Takes All match, where Brown also defended the European Championship. Brown became the first Eurocontinental Champion.
58 Jeff Jarrett August 22, 1999 SummerSlam Minneapolis, MN 6 56 Jarrett also won the European Championship in the match to become the second Eurocontinental Champion.
59 Chyna October 17, 1999 No Mercy Cleveland, OH 1 56
60 Chris Jericho December 12, 1999 Armageddon Sunrise, FL 1 22
Chris Jericho and Chyna January 3, 2000 Raw Miami, FL 1 On December 30, 1999 on SmackDown!, a title match between Chyna and Jericho ended in a double pinfall; as a result they were recognized as co-champions.
61 Chris Jericho January 23, 2000 Royal Rumble New York, NY 2 35 Jericho defeated Chyna and Hardcore Holly in a triple threat match to become undisputed champion.
62 Kurt Angle February 27, 2000 No Way Out Hartford, CT 1 35 Earlier that month, Angle had also won the European Championship. This win made Angle the third and final Eurocontinental Champion.
63 Chris Benoit April 2, 2000 WrestleMania 2000 Anaheim, CA 1 32
64 Chris Jericho May 4, 2000 SmackDown! Richmond, VA 3 5
65 Chris Benoit May 8, 2000 Raw Uniondale, NY 2 43
66 Rikishi June 22, 2000 SmackDown! Memphis, TN 1 14
67 Val Venis July 6, 2000 SmackDown! Sunrise, FL 2 52
68 Chyna August 27, 2000 SummerSlam Raleigh, NC 2 8 Won the title in a mixed tag team match that pitted Chyna and Eddie Guerrero against Val Venis and Trish Stratus; Chyna pinned Trish to win Venis' title.
69 Eddie Guerrero September 4, 2000 Raw Lexington, KY 1 80
70 Billy Gunn November 23, 2000 SmackDown! Sunrise, FL 1 17
71 Chris Benoit December 10, 2000 Armageddon Birmingham, AL 3 42
72 Chris Jericho January 21, 2001 Royal Rumble New Orleans, LA 4 74
73 Triple H April 5, 2001 SmackDown! Oklahoma City, OK 3 7
74 Jeff Hardy April 12, 2001 SmackDown! Philadelphia, PA 1 3
75 Triple H April 16, 2001 Raw Knoxville, TN 4 34
76 Kane May 20, 2001 Judgment Day Sacramento, CA 1 39
77 Albert June 28, 2001 SmackDown! New York, NY 1 25
78 Lance Storm July 23, 2001 Raw Buffalo, NY 1 27
79 Edge August 19, 2001 SummerSlam San Jose, CA 2 35
80 Christian September 23, 2001 Unforgiven Pittsburgh, PA 1 28
81 Edge October 21, 2001 No Mercy St. Louis, MO 3 15
82 Test November 5, 2001 Raw Uniondale, NY 1 13
83 Edge November 18, 2001 Survivor Series Greensboro, NC 4 63 This was a title unification match, where Edge also defended the WCW United States Championship. The United States Championship was deactivated in favor of continuing the Intercontinental Championship.
84 William Regal January 20, 2002 Royal Rumble Atlanta, GA 1 56
85 Rob Van Dam March 17, 2002 WrestleMania X8 Toronto, ON, Canada 1 35 On March 25, the brand extension began, in which wrestlers and championships became exclusive to either the Raw or SmackDown! brands, represented by the show of the same name. The title became exclusive to Raw when Van Dam was drafted to the Raw brand.
86 Eddie Guerrero April 21, 2002 Backlash Kansas City, MO 2 36 On May 6, 2002, after the World Wrestling Federation was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment, the title was subsequently renamed to WWE Intercontinental Championship.
87 Rob Van Dam May 27, 2002 Raw Edmonton, AB, Canada 2 63 On July 22, 2002, Van Dam defeated Jeff Hardy to unify the European Championship into the Intercontinental Championship, deactivating the European title.
88 Chris Benoit August 1, 2002 Raw Greensboro, NC 4 27 The title became exclusive to SmackDown! when Benoit defected to SmackDown! on July 30, 2002.
89 Rob Van Dam August 25, 2002 SummerSlam Uniondale, NY 3 22 The title was returned to Raw due to Van Dam's status as a Raw superstar.

The following night on Raw, Van Dam defeated Tommy Dreamer to unify the Hardcore Championship into the Intercontinental Championship, deactivating the Hardcore title.

90 Chris Jericho September 16, 2002 Raw Denver, CO 5 14
91 Kane September 30, 2002 Raw Houston, TX 2 20
92 Triple H October 20, 2002 No Mercy North Little Rock, AR 5 <1 This was a title unification match to unify the Intercontinental Championship with Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship.
Unified October 20, 2002 No Mercy North Little Rock, AR Unified with Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship; the Intercontinental Championship was deactivated.
93 Christian May 18, 2003 Judgment Day Charlotte, NC 2 50 Raw Co-General Manager Stone Cold Steve Austin reactivated the title. Christian won the revived title in a battle royal.
94 Booker T July 7, 2003 Raw Montreal, QC, Canada 1 34
95 Christian August 10, 2003 House show Des Moines, IA 3 50
96 Rob Van Dam September 29, 2003 Raw Rosemont, IL 4 28
97 Chris Jericho October 27, 2003 Raw Fayetteville, NC 6 <1
98 Rob Van Dam October 27, 2003 Raw Fayetteville, NC 5 48
99 Randy Orton December 14, 2003 Armageddon Orlando, FL 1 210
100 Edge July 11, 2004 Vengeance Hartford, CT 5 57
Vacated September 6, 2004 Raw Wichita Falls, TX Vacated due to injury.
101 Chris Jericho September 12, 2004 Unforgiven Portland, OR 7 37 Defeated Christian in a ladder match for the vacant title.
102 Shelton Benjamin October 19, 2004 Taboo Tuesday Milwaukee, WI 1 244
103 Carlito June 20, 2005 Raw Phoenix, AZ 1 90
104 Ric Flair September 18, 2005 Unforgiven Oklahoma City, OK 1 155
105 Shelton Benjamin February 20, 2006 Raw Trenton, NJ 2 68
106 Rob Van Dam April 30, 2006 Backlash Lexington, KY 6 15
107 Shelton Benjamin May 15, 2006 Raw Lubbock, TX 3 40
108 Johnny Nitro June 25, 2006 Vengeance Charlotte, NC 1 99
109 Jeff Hardy October 2, 2006 Raw Topeka, KS 2 34
110 Johnny Nitro November 6, 2006 Raw Columbus, OH 2 7
111 Jeff Hardy November 13, 2006 Raw Manchester, England 3 97
112 Umaga February 19, 2007 Raw Bakersfield, CA 1 56
113 Santino Marella April 16, 2007 Raw Milan, Italy 1 77 Santino was "picked out of the audience" by Vince McMahon.
114 Umaga July 2, 2007 Raw Dallas, TX 2 63
115 Jeff Hardy September 3, 2007 Raw Columbus, OH 4 189
116 Chris Jericho March 10, 2008 Raw Milwaukee, WI 8 111
117 Kofi Kingston June 29, 2008 Night of Champions Dallas, TX 1 48
118 Santino Marella August 17, 2008 SummerSlam Indianapolis, IN 2 85
119 William Regal November 10, 2008 Raw Manchester, England 2 70
120 CM Punk January 19, 2009 Raw Rosemont, IL 1 49
121 John "Bradshaw" Layfield March 9, 2009 Raw Jacksonville, FL 1 27
122 Rey Mysterio April 5, 2009 WrestleMania 25 Houston, TX 1 63 The title became exclusive to SmackDown following the 2009 WWE Draft.
123 Chris Jericho June 7, 2009 Extreme Rules New Orleans, LA 9 21
124 Rey Mysterio June 28, 2009 The Bash Sacramento, CA 2 68
125 John Morrison September 4, 2009 SmackDown Cleveland, OH 3 100 John Morrison was formerly known as Johnny Nitro.
126 Drew McIntyre December 13, 2009 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs San Antonio, TX 1 161 On May 7, 2010, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long suspended McIntyre and vacated the title. The following week on SmackDown, Kofi Kingston won a tournament to declare a new champion, but Vince McMahon reverted Long's decision, nullifying Kingston's win and continuing McIntyre's.
127 Kofi Kingston May 23, 2010 Over the Limit Detroit, MI 2 74
128 Dolph Ziggler August 6, 2010 SmackDown Laredo, TX 1 154
129 Kofi Kingston January 7, 2011 SmackDown Tucson, AZ 3 76
130 Wade Barrett March 25, 2011 SmackDown Columbus, OH 1 86
131 Ezekiel Jackson June 19, 2011 Capitol Punishment Washington, D.C. 1 54
132 Cody Rhodes August 12, 2011 SmackDown Sacramento, CA 1 234 On August 29, 2011, the brand extension ended, allowing the Intercontinental Champion to appear on both Raw and SmackDown.
133 Big Show April 1, 2012 WrestleMania XXVIII Miami Gardens, FL 1 27
134 Cody Rhodes April 29, 2012 Extreme Rules Rosemont, IL 2 22
135 Christian May 20, 2012 Over the Limit Raleigh, NC 4 64
136 The Miz July 23, 2012 Raw 1000 St. Louis, MO 1 84
137 Kofi Kingston October 17, 2012 Main Event Memphis, TN 4 76
138 Wade Barrett December 31, 2012 Raw Washington, D.C. 2 97
139 The Miz April 7, 2013 WrestleMania 29

Pre-Show

East Rutherford, NJ 2 1
140 Wade Barrett April 8, 2013 Raw East Rutherford, NJ 3 68
141 Curtis Axel June 16, 2013 Payback Rosemont, IL 1 156
142 Big E Langston November 18, 2013 Raw Nashville, TN 1 167 On February 12, 2014, Big E Langston's ring name was shortened to Big E.
143 Bad News Barrett May 4, 2014 Extreme Rules East Rutherford, NJ 4 58 Bad News Barrett was formerly known as Wade Barrett.
Vacated June 30, 2014 Raw Hartford, CT Title vacated due to a shoulder injury.
144 The Miz July 20, 2014 Battleground Tampa, FL 3 27 This was a nineteen-man battle royal. Miz last eliminated Dolph Ziggler to win the vacant title.
145 Dolph Ziggler August 17, 2014 SummerSlam Los Angeles, CA 2 36
146 The Miz September 21, 2014 Night of Champions Nashville, TN 4 <1
147 Dolph Ziggler September 22, 2014 Raw Memphis, TN 3 57
148 Luke Harper November 17, 2014 Raw Roanoke, VA 1 27
149 Dolph Ziggler December 14, 2014 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs Cleveland, OH 4 23
150 Bad News Barrett January 5, 2015 Raw Corpus Christi, TX 5 82
151 Daniel Bryan March 29, 2015 WrestleMania 31 Santa Clara, CA 1 44
Vacated May 11, 2015 Raw Cincinnati, OH Title vacated due to injury.
152 Ryback May 31, 2015 Elimination Chamber Corpus Christi, TX 1 112 This was an Elimination Chamber match for the vacant title, also involving Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Mark Henry, R-Truth, and King Barrett.
153 Kevin Owens September 20, 2015 Night of Champions Houston, TX 1 85
154 Dean Ambrose December 13, 2015 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs Boston, MA 1 64
155 Kevin Owens February 15, 2016 Raw Anaheim, CA 2 48
156 Zack Ryder April 3, 2016 WrestleMania 32 Arlington, TX 1 1
157 The Miz April 4, 2016 Raw Dallas, TX 5 188 The brand extension returned and the title became exclusive to the SmackDown brand following the 2016 WWE Draft.
158 Dolph Ziggler October 9, 2016 No Mercy Sacramento, CA 5 37
159 The Miz November 15, 2016 SmackDown Wilkes-Barre, PA 6 48
160 Dean Ambrose January 3, 2017 SmackDown Jacksonville, FL 2 152 The title became exclusive to the Raw brand following the 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up.
161 The Miz June 4, 2017 Extreme Rules Baltimore, MD 7 169
162 Roman Reigns November 20, 2017 Raw Houston, TX 1 63
163 The Miz January 22, 2018 Raw 25 Years Brooklyn, NY 8 75
164 Seth Rollins April 8, 2018 WrestleMania 34 New Orleans, LA 1 71
165 Dolph Ziggler June 18, 2018 Raw Grand Rapids, MI 6 61
166 Seth Rollins August 19, 2018 SummerSlam Brooklyn, NY 2 119
167 Dean Ambrose December 16, 2018 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs San Jose, CA 3 28
168 Bobby Lashley January 14, 2019 Raw Memphis, TN 1 33
169 Finn Bálor February 17, 2019 Elimination Chamber Houston, TX 1 21
170 Bobby Lashley March 11, 2019 Raw Pittsburgh, PA 2 27
171 Finn Bálor April 7, 2019 WrestleMania 35 East Rutherford, NJ 2 98 The title became exclusive to the SmackDown brand following the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up.
172 Shinsuke Nakamura July 14, 2019 Extreme Rules

Kickoff

Philadelphia, PA 1 201
173 Braun Strowman January 31, 2020 SmackDown Tulsa, OK 1 36
174 Sami Zayn March 8, 2020 Elimination Chamber Philadelphia, PA 1 65
Vacated May 12, 2020 Backstage Sami Zayn was stripped of the title after electing to refrain from competing. In storyline, he claimed to still be the champion, and continued to carry around his copy of the belt after he returned in August 2020.
175 AJ Styles June 12, 2020 SmackDown Orlando, FL 1 71 Defeated Daniel Bryan in a tournament final for the vacant title.
176 Jeff Hardy August 21, 2020 SmackDown Orlando, FL 5 36 On August 28, 2020, Sami Zayn returned with his own title belt, claiming to be the legitimate champion as he was never defeated. WWE did not recognize Zayn as champion; however, this led to the following match to determine the undisputed champion.
177 Sami Zayn September 27, 2020 Clash of Champions Orlando, FL 2 89 This was a triple threat ladder match also involving AJ Styles in which the winner had to retrieve both Jeff Hardy's belt and Zayn's faux belt to determine the undisputed champion.
178 Big E December 25, 2020 SmackDown St. Petersburg, FL 2 107
179 Apollo Crews April 11, 2021 WrestleMania 37

Night 2

Tampa, FL 1 123
180 King Nakamura August 13, 2021 SmackDown Tulsa, OK 2 189 Won the title under the name King Nakamura. Reverted back to Shinsuke Nakamura on October 8, 2021.
181 Sami Zayn February 18, 2022 SmackDown New Orleans, LA 3 13
182 Ricochet March 4, 2022 SmackDown Miami, FL 1 98
183 Gunther June 10, 2022 SmackDown Baton Rouge, LA 1 37+
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