The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a men's

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

created and promoted by the American

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, along with the

WWE United States Championship The WWE United States Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#Location-specific championships, championship promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE, defend ...

on SmackDown. The current champion is

Dominik Mysterio Dominik Óscar Gutiérrez (born April 5, 1997) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Dominik Mysterio, and he is a member of The Judgment Day stable. He is the current ...

, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating previous champion

Bron Breakker Bronson Rechsteiner (born October 24, 1997) is an American professional wrestler and former football player. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Bron Breakker. He is a former two-time WWE Intercontinenta ...

, Penta, and

Finn Bálor Fergal Devitt (born 25 July 1981) is an Irish professional wrestler. As of May 2014, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Finn Bálor (). He is a member of The Judgment Day stable. Devitt began his car ...

, whom Mysterio pinned, in a

fatal four-way match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

on night two of

WrestleMania 41 WrestleMania 41, also promoted as WrestleMania Vegas, was a 2025 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards, event produced by WWE. It was the 41st annual WrestleMania and to ...

on April 20, 2025. The championship was established by the then-

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

(WWF) on September 1, 1979, as a result of the

WWF North American Heavyweight Championship The WWF North American Heavyweight Championship was a relatively short-lived title in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 1979 until 1981. It was established as the WWWF North American Heavyweight Championship on February 13, 1979 ...

being unified with an apocryphal South American Heavyweight Championship, with Pat Patterson as the inaugural champion. It is the third-oldest championship currently active in WWE, behind the

WWE Championship The WWE Championship, also referred to as the Undisputed WWE Championship since April 2024, is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown bran ...

(1963) and United States Championship (1975), but the second-longest tenured championship, as WWE has only owned the U.S. championship since 2001. Although generally contested in the midcard at WWE shows, it has been defended in the main event of pay-per-views including

WrestleMania VI WrestleMania VI was a 1990 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the sixth annual WrestleMania and took place on April 1, 1990, at the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Can ...

, SummerSlam in 1992, the

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

and eighth

In Your House In Your House was a series of professional wrestling supercard events created by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The events originally aired on pay-per-view (PPV) from May 1995 to February 1999 when the promotion w ...

shows, Backlash in 2001, and at Extreme Rules in 2018. It has been called a "stepping stone" to a WWE world championship. In November 2001, the then- 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 (original version). 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 2023 draft moved the title back to Raw.

Etymology

The term "intercontinental" in the title originally referred to

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. In 1985, the championship belt design changed, the centerplate now centered on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, in a map including western

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. On April 7, 1989, the championship was first defended outside of North America, by

Rick Rude Richard Erwin Rood (December 7, 1958 – April 20, 1999), better known by his ring name "Ravishing" Rick Rude, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler who performed for many Professional wrestling promotion, promotions, incl ...

against

the Ultimate Warrior Warrior (born James Brian Hellwig; June 16, 1959 – April 8, 2014) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Bodybuilding, bodybuilder and Motivational speaker, motivational speaker. Best known by his ring name The Ultima ...

Turin, Italy Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. On March 30, 1991, Mr. Perfect made the first

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n defense against The Texas Tornado at a WWF co-promotion with

Super World of Sports Super World of Sports, also known as Super World Sports or simply SWS, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion from 1990 to 1992. Its motto was "Straight and Strong". History Formation In April 1990, Genichiro Tenryu, one of the top sta ...

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. It first came to Africa on April 6, 1997, when champion

Rocky Maivia Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...

pinned

Savio Vega Savio Vega (born August 10, 1964) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is known for his work in World Wrestling Federation, World Wrestling Council and International Wrestling Association. After leaving the WWF in 1999, Rivera returned ...

Durban, South Africa Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South Africa, on the Natal Bay o ...

Shelton Benjamin Shelton James Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler. , he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Hurt Syndicate and is one-half of the AEW World Tag Team Champ ...

made the first

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n defense on April 7, 2005, pinning

Gene Snitsky Eugene Alan Snisky (born January 14, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Gene Snitsky, who is best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment. He played college football at the Universit ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

History

WWF North American Heavyweight Champion Pat Patterson became the inaugural champion on September 1, 1979. It was said he had unified his title with the South American Heavyweight Championship, in a tournament in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, although both the tournament and South American Championship were entirely fictional. On April 1, 1990, at

, Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion

defeated WWF World Heavyweight Champion

Hulk Hogan Terry Gene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a brand ambassador. Known for his flamboyance and massive physiq ...

to win the world title; so the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship was vacated for the first time soon after. Mr. Perfect then won a tournament to crown a new Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion. Don Muraco WWF Intercontinental Championship 1981

Don Muraco WWF Intercontinental Championship 1981

On October 17, 1999,

Chyna Chyna (born Joan Marie Laurer; December 27, 1969 – April 17, 2016), also known as Joanie Laurer, was an American professional wrestler, fitness model, bodybuilder, actress, adult actress, and television personality. Chyna first rose to pr ...

became the only woman to hold the Intercontinental Championship by defeating

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he both wrestles and serves as Director of Business Development. He is also ...

at No Mercy.Laurer, Joanie. ''If They Only Knew'', 299. Following the

's (WWF) purchase of

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

(WCW) in March 2001, the title was unified with the WCW United States Championship at

Survivor Series Survivor Series, branded as Survivor Series: WarGames since 2022, is a professional wrestling event produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving ( ...

, causing the United States Championship to become inactive. Then-United States Champion

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

defeated then-Intercontinental Champion

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

. In 2002, after the first brand split had begun and the WWF was renamed WWE, Raw general manager

Eric Bischoff Eric Aaron Bischoff (born May 27, 1955) is an American television producer, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Booker, professional wrestling booker, promoter, and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Sen ...

began unifying his brand's singles championships. On July 22, 2002, the Intercontinental Championship was unified with the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in a

ladder match A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself become ...

, in which then-Intercontinental Champion

Rob Van Dam Robert Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD) is an American professional wrestler. Known for his unique ring style—which includes his variety of kicks, acrobatic movemen ...

defeated then-European Champion

Jeff Hardy Jeffrey Nero Hardy (born August 31, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and also appears on partner promotion WWE on its NXT (WWE brand), NXT brand. He is re ...

. On August 19, 2002, Bischoff made a six-minute gauntlet match for the Hardcore Championship, with the winner facing Van Dam in a second unification match the next week on '' Raw''.

Tommy Dreamer Thomas James Laughlin (born February 13, 1971) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and professional wrestling promotion, promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestli ...

successfully retained his title in that match, and lost to Van Dam in a hardcore match the next week. As a result of the victories over Hardy and Dreamer, Van Dam is regarded as the last European and Hardcore champion in WWE history; these were his first and fourth reigns with those respective titles. On September 30, 2002, Bischoff scheduled a match to unify the Intercontinental Championship with the recently created Raw-exclusive World Heavyweight Championship. The unification match took place at No Mercy the following month and saw then-World Heavyweight Champion

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer. Levesque began his wres ...

defeat then-Intercontinental Champion Kane, making him the Raw brand's sole male singles champion. Dolph Ziggler 2010 Tribute to the Troops

Over Bischoff's objections, Raw co-general manager

Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson and later Steven James Williams; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, producer and retired Professional wrestling, profes ...

reactivated the Intercontinental Championship on the May 5, 2003 episode of ''Raw'' and declared any former champion on the Raw roster eligible to enter a battle royal at

Judgment Day The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

for the title.

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

won the battle royal to win the championship and restore a secondary singles title for Raw wrestlers to compete for. Eventually, WWE did the same thing for SmackDown and created a separate set of titles for that brand; for its secondary title, SmackDown reactivated the United States Championship that had been unified with the Intercontinental Championship in 2001, placing the WWE name on it while claiming the lineage of the old WCW title of the same name (much as they did with the Cruiserweight Championship when that became WWE exclusive). On May 31, 2015, the championship was contested in an

Elimination Chamber The Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling elimination-based match held in the WWE. The match was created by Triple H, and introduced by Eric Bischoff in November 2002. It features a large chain-linked circular steel structure which ...

match for the first time. In July 2016, WWE reintroduced the brand split. During the 2016 draft, then-Intercontinental Champion The Miz was drafted to SmackDown. Just days later, he successfully defended the title against Raw draftee

Darren Young Frederick Douglas Rosser III (born November 2, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and trainer. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a trainer at the NJPW Academy and a former Strong Openweight Champion. He is bes ...

Battleground A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troop ...

, making the title exclusive to SmackDown. During the following year's Superstar Shake-up, Intercontinental Champion

Dean Ambrose Jonathan David Good (born December 7, 1985) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Jon Moxley and is the current AEW World Champion in his record-setting fourth ...

was moved to the Raw brand, making the title exclusive to Raw. Two years later during the

2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up The 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up was the thirteenth WWE draft – and the last to be branded as the Superstar Shake-up – produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands. Instead ...

, Intercontinental Champion

moved to SmackDown, making the title exclusive back to SmackDown. Later that year, the NXT brand, WWE's

developmental territory Development of the human body is the process of growth to maturity. The process begins with fertilization, where an egg released from the ovary of a female is penetrated by a sperm cell from a male. The resulting zygote develops through mitos ...

, became WWE's third major brand when it was moved to the

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

in September, thus making the

NXT North American Championship The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended as the secondary men's championship of NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The current champi ...

a third secondary title in WWE. However, this recognition was reversed when NXT reverted to being WWE's developmental brand in September 2021. In late 2024, the WWE introduced the women's counterpart to the Intercontinental Championship.

Belt design

The 1985 version of the Intercontinental Championship belt, designed by

Reggie Parks Reggie Parks (born Reginald David Parko; August 27, 1934 – October 7, 2021) was a Canadian professional wrestler and engraver, known for his work designing championship belts for wrestling, mixed martial arts, and boxing promotions. He began ...

, consisted of a gold center plate featuring a blue globe, with the red WWF block logo on top which was later changed to gold. On the top ribbon of the belt it read "INTERCONTINENTAL" with the three stars on each side, while the bottom inscription read "HEAVYWEIGHT WRESTLING CHAMPION". The championship belt also had four identical side plates. Like the main WWF Championship, the strap could be changed to a custom color such as yellow worn by

The Ultimate Warrior Warrior (born James Brian Hellwig; June 16, 1959 – April 8, 2014) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Bodybuilding, bodybuilder and Motivational speaker, motivational speaker. Best known by his ring name The Ultima ...

and blue worn by

Shawn Michaels Shawn Michaels (born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom on July 22, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative, and oversees the creative aspects of th ...

. In 1997, after Stone Cold Steve Austin won the title, the Intercontinental Championship was redesigned after he threw the previous belt into a river. The belt originally had a purple strap and the WWF block logo, but was later redesigned again with a black strap and the WWF scratch logo. The center plate was oval shaped and featured an oval shaped world map with the company's logo in the center. On the top it had six faux diamonds and the inscription initially read "World Wrestling Federation" while the bottom had two texts reading "INTERCONTINENTAL" on the ribbon and "CHAMPION" on the bottom. Each of the four side plates represented the continents: the first plate contained the WWF logo and the text

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

, the second plate read

and

, while the third plate represented the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

(

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and

) and the fourth plate read

and

. The belt's design was modified after the company's name change in 2002 from WWF to WWE, replacing the text with "World Wrestling Entertainment" accordingly. Jericho 9th Intercontinental Championship

Jericho 9th Intercontinental Championship

On October 2, 2011, at

Hell in a Cell Hell in a Cell is a professional wrestling steel cage-based match which originated in 1997 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It features a large cell structure, a four-sided cuboid made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link f ...

Cody Rhodes Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (born June 30, 1985) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. As of April 2022, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. He is also known for co-fou ...

reintroduced a modified version of Parks' 1985–1997 championship belt design with the white strap, with the modern WWE "scratch logo" and other embellishments. On August 18, 2014, the Intercontinental Championship belt, along with all other existing championship belts in WWE at the time, received a minor update, replacing the longstanding scratch logo with WWE's current logo that was originally used for the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, a division of TKO Group Holdings. The service relied on technology develo ...

that launched earlier that year in February. Intercontinental Champion The Miz

On the November 22, 2019, episode of ''SmackDown'',

Sami Zayn Rami Sebei (born July 12, 1984) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Sami Zayn. Sebei made his professional wrestling debut in 2002 under the ring name Stevie McFly. Pr ...

presented a new belt design to champion

Shinsuke Nakamura is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. Nakamura is known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former 3-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, with his first rei ...

. The redesigned Intercontinental Championship returned to being on a black leather strap 1985 to 1997 and 1997 to 2011 version with an entirely new center plate with an irregular shape. The center portion of the center plate features an oval-shape. The top half of the oval says "Intercontinental" and the bottom half says "Champion"; the word "Heavyweight" sits in a banner on the inner side of the oval above the word "Champion". At the center of the oval is a diamond shape, representing a

wrestling ring A wrestling ring, also known as the squared circle, is the stage on which a professional wrestling match usually occurs. It is similarly constructed to a boxing ring and is traditionally square-shaped. In Japan, it is also common to see mixed mart ...

viewed from above, with the WWE logo over a globe. On the sides of the center, plate is two halves of the globe. The left side features the continents of North and South America as well as Africa and Europe, while the globe on the left shows Asia and Australia; both globes show a portion of Antarctica. The rest of the center plate is filled with ornamentation. Like all of WWE's other championships, the belt features two side plates with a removable center section that can be customized with the champion's logos; the default side plates consist of the WWE logo over a globe. On the September 30, 2024, episode of ''Raw'', upon

Jey Uso Joshua Samuel Fatu (born August 22, 1985) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Jey Uso. He is a member of the Anoa'i family of professional wrestlers. Trained since ...

winning the championship from

the week prior, the championship received a minor update by adding blue on the globes on the centerplate.

Brand designation history

Following the brand split on March 25, 2002, all titles in WWE became exclusive to either the Raw brand or SmackDown brand. The brand split was discontinued on August 29, 2011, and revived on July 19, 2016. The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the Intercontinental Championship between the Raw and SmackDown brands.

Tournaments

WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship Tournament (1990)

The WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide a new WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion after previous champion Ultimate Warrior was required to vacate the title after he defeated

for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at

WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament (1996)

The WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide a new WWF Intercontinental Champion after previous champion

Ahmed Johnson Anthony Norris (born June 6, 1963) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1995 to 1998, under the ring name Ahmed Johns ...

forfeited the title. He suffered (

kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced ) is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants. The term has evolved to become a code word ...

) injuries to both kidneys when he was attacked by the debuting

Faarooq Ronald K. Simmons (born May 15, 1958) is an American former professional wrestler and football player. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Simmons played fo ...

after winning an 11-man battle royal.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament (1997)

The tournament to determine the new WWF Intercontinental Champion after former champion

forfeited the belt after his neck injury. The tournament was held between September 8 and October 5, 1997, with the finals occurring on October 5 at the pay-per-view. The tournament brackets were: Notes:
¹

WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament (1998)

The WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide a new WWF Intercontinental Champion after previous champion

vacated the title due to injury.

WWE Intercontinental Championship #1 Contender's Tournament (2008)

A tournament was announced to crown a new #1 contender for William Regal's WWE Intercontinental Championship. CM Punk won the tournament by defeating Rey Mysterio in the tournament final at Armageddon.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Tournament (2010)

The WWE Intercontinental Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown a new Intercontinental Champion. On May 7, 2010, after failed attempts of getting Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre to stop attacking Matt Hardy, Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long fired McIntyre and vacated the title. The following week, Kofi Kingston won a tournament to become the new champion, but Mr. McMahon reverted Long's decision. Due to the decision by Mr. McMahon, the vacancy of the title and Kingston's championship win are not recognized as WWE continued to recognize McIntyre as champion during that period. At Over the Limit (2010), Over the Limit, Kingston defeated McIntyre to win his second official Intercontinental Championship.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Tournament (2020)

On May 12, 2020, the Intercontinental Championship was declared vacant after champion

elected to refrain from competing during the COVID-19 pandemic. A tournament to crown a new champion was then set to begin on the May 15 episode of ''SmackDown''. † Neither Jeff Hardy nor Elias were able to compete in the semifinals, as Elias was (

) injured in a car crash and Hardy was accused of causing it and arrested. AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan were given the option of having a Bye (sports), bye in the tournament. Styles opted for the bye to automatically advance to the final on June 12 while Bryan opted to have a new opponent; Sheamus subsequently won a battle royal (professional wrestling), battle royal to qualify for the vacant spot in the semifinals against Bryan that night.

Reigns

The inaugural champion was Pat Patterson who, as the WWF North American Heavyweight Champion in September 1979 was also declared "South American Heavyweight Champion" after allegedly winning a tournament in

. Patterson Championship unification#Professional wrestling, unified the two championships into the Intercontinental Championship. Since then, there have been 188 reigns among 92 different champions. Chris Jericho has the most reigns with nine. At 666 days, Gunther (wrestler), Gunther's reign is the longest in the title's history, both as a singular reign and for most cumulative days as champion. Prior to his reign, Pedro Morales had the longest combined reign at 619 days over two reigns, and held this record for over 41 years. Shane Douglas, Dean Douglas had the shortest reign at just 13 minutes and 52 seconds.

is the only woman to win the title. The youngest champion was

, who won the championship for the first time at the age of 23, while the oldest champion was Ric Flair, who won the championship at the age of 56. There have been 10 vacancies throughout the title's history. Only five men have held the title for a continuous reign of one year (365 days) or more: Pedro Morales, Don Muraco, Randy Savage, The Honky Tonk Man, and Gunther.

is the current champion in his first reign. He won the title by defeating previous champion

, Penta, and

, whom Mysterio pinned, in a

on night two of

on April 20, 2025, in Paradise, Nevada.

Reception

The Intercontinental Championship's early years have been praised. Samuel Kendall of ''Comic Book Resources'' lauded the championship during this era, stating: "It was a foregone conclusion that the Intercontinental Champion was the workhorse of the company and the next in line for the World Heavyweight Championship". Steve Cook of ''411Mania'' wrote that "nearly anybody that was a big deal in WWE held the championship at some point." Steve Austin said he considered the Intercontinental Championship to be as important as the world titles and he remains in possession of the physical belt that represented the championship during his reign because of its historical importance. Throughout the 2010s, WWE was criticized for its booking of the Intercontinental Champions, with champions either not defending during long periods of time or losing in many of their non-title matches. Chris Jericho said that WWE promoter Vince McMahon told him that "nobody fucking cares about the Intercontinental Championship" after he asked to be placed in a match for the title at WrestleMania 29 in 2013. Also in 2013, Darren Gutteridge of ''Pro Wrestling Dot Net'' wrote that the "title has proven an Albatross (metaphor), albatross for the past decade, with almost all title holders doomed to tread water, usually only beating people decisively when the title is on the line". The albatross metaphor was also used to describe the title in 2014 by James Caldwell of ''Pro Wrestling Torch'', while Dave Meltzer of the ''Wrestling Observer'' said that year that "the [Intercontinental] title isn't booked to mean much." Various commentators in 2014 and 2015, including from ''The Baltimore Sun'', ''Rolling Stone'', ''PWInsider,'' and ''Pro Wrestling Dot Net'' have pointed out that the Intercontinental Champion often loses non-title matches, while Mike Tedesco of ''Wrestleview'' questioned how Intercontinental Champions losing too much is supposed to bring prestige to the title. Some observers argued that The Miz managed to elevate the championship during his multiple runs with the title; ''The Sportster'' columnist Wesly Avendano claimed that Miz "made the Intercontinental Championship "Must See" again" and "helped stabilize the IC Title during a time when WWE really needed him to", while Lucean from SB Nation, Cageside Seats noted that Miz "has been, at least for me, making the Intercontinental (IC) title appear really meaningful" and that "the number of people I see wanting to see someone to beat the Miz and take the title to get that heat makes becoming the IC champion seem meaningful". The championship continued to receive criticism into the early 2020s. Kendall panned the recent reigns as forgettable and wrote that the title had "turned into a prop to be lugged around, rather than a title that should bestow prestige." Cook wrote that it had been "treated as something of an afterthought" for the previous two decades. The championship was only defended on two pay-per-views in 2021 and was not defended at any within the first quarter of 2022, including WrestleMania 38; its absence on the premiere event was widely criticized by fans. After Vince McMahon retired as chairman, CEO, and Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Booker, Head of Creative on July 22, 2022, the championship has been featured more prominently after

took over as the new Head of Creative. The championship has been featured in the main event of numerous episodes of ''SmackDown'', and has even received two List of professional wrestling matches rated 5 or more stars by Dave Meltzer, five-star ratings from Meltzer. The first was Gunther (wrestler), Gunther defending against Sheamus at WWE Clash at the Castle, Clash at the Castle, while the second was Gunther defending against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre in a Triple Threat match, triple threat match at WrestleMania 39, WrestleMania 39: Night 2, making it the first time Meltzer gave more than one five-star match rating for any main roster championship reign. The last time the Intercontinental Championship received such a rating before Gunther's reign was

going against Scott Hall, Razor Ramon in an Championship unification, Intercontinental Unification

at WrestleMania X.

References

External links

Official WWE Intercontinental Title History

WWE Intercontinental Title Belts: A Guide to the Gold (Archived Version}
{{DEFAULTSORT:WWE Intercontinental Championship Awards established in 1979 Intercontinental professional wrestling championships WWE championships

Etymology

History

Belt design

Brand designation history

Tournaments

WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship Tournament (1990)

WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament (1996)

WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament (1997)

WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament (1998)

WWE Intercontinental Championship #1 Contender's Tournament (2008)

WWE Intercontinental Championship Tournament (2010)

WWE Intercontinental Championship Tournament (2020)

Reigns

Reception

See also

References

External links