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+