10 Greatest WWE Intercontinental Champions Ever

From Bret Hart and Chris Jericho to Honky Tonk Man and Gunther, these are the 10 Best WWE Intercontinental Champions Ever.
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Cultaholic provides video coverage of professional wrestling - including WWE (including WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown,, and NXT), AEW, IMPACT Wrestling (formerly TNA), NJPW, ROH, and more with daily news updates, reviews, lists, highlights, predictions, reactions, podcasts and much, much more.

[@LucotIC.]

It makes me sad that Dolph Ziggler isnt an honorable mention. He held the belt 6 times, and had classics with Seth Rollins, Cesaro and Luke Harper. He even recieved huge pops when winning or retaining the belt.

[@mitchellima7548]

Dolph is tough to rank because while he is fucking amazing the booking around often isn’t. But I do think he deserves an honorable bringing the best out of a championship that the company seemed to want to destroy.

[@ibushi5467]

I always remember Ziggler, Kingston and The Miz as great IC Champs. They're on the same tier tbh.

[@LucotIC.]

@@mitchellima7548 While he was booked terribly, the fans LOVED him at this time when he was a credible IC champion

[@mitchellima7548]

@@LucotIC. agreed. This might sound weird but it’s less the booking with him specifically being bad(although it was at times) but more the company booking philosophy just being poor. He did everything he could to make the ic championship matter

[@babyfaceaviator7862]

Cody also deserved an honorable mention here.

[@matthewevans3543]

When I think of the IC belt, The Miz and Jericho always come to mind

[@randomguy4499]

this .

[@keithnelson5376]

Gunter has made this championship great again He's definitely in my Top 5 Intercontinental Champions ever

[@Officialmartha_perkins]

Hello 👋 Greetings from canada

[@Jayseman79]

He could be the one to dethrone Roman

[@dmitrysteinsapir2185]

​@@Jayseman79well... not anymore

[@Jayseman79]

@@dmitrysteinsapir2185 why not

[@Touristt]

After Miz made it relevant

[@wyattangle]

After watching this list, it's obvious we're going to need the top 10 IC matches of all time as well.

[@hhtptai]

Bret Hart vs. The British Bulldog is going to be on there for sure. Along with Sheamus vs. Gunther at Clash at the Castle.

[@assadi89]

Glad to see the Miz on this list. He's often being shat on these days, but we can't forgot how hardworking and great he is.

[@Trayxxxx]

I was thinking the exact same thing

[@wildlifeX7]

Agreed

[@kevink9585]

Should be higher

[@djtrankilo231]

Miz definitely made his reigns interesting

[@cbcvvmalkf9486]

Miz better IC champ than Warrior? Yea lol

[@dantorkel7561]

Savage was the first guy to make the IC Title feel like a true stepping stone. He made it feel so important and was champ for over a year. And a year later he was a main eventer for life

[@justawhisperintheuniverse8257]

Just at the age I was then... Savage did it. Warrior did it. Hart did it. Michaels did it. It just seemed like any non-joke of a champion (ahem, The Mountie) was soon going to be the top guy.

[@CarbonGod666]

Dan Torkel no

[@jeffreymarksworld534]

I would say that honor goes to Don Muraco hands down. Savage is only a more recognizable wrestler that's why some will say Savage

[@dantorkel7561]

@@jeffreymarksworld534 muraco lost the IC Title and became a comedy heel and mid card babyface. Savage lost it and never stopped being a main event star

[@jeffreymarksworld534]

@@dantorkel7561 You have an opinion and I give my own. Have a good day!

[@bsovvy07]

The miz is my favorite modern holder, his matches against Dolph, roman, Seth, and others were amazing. He elevated the title so much

[@Officialmartha_perkins]

Hello 👋 Greetings from canada

[@jrios29]

Thank you for showing love to Pedro Morales! Bruno and Pedro are the reasons the WWE is successful today, but are rarely mentioned....especially Pedro.

[@Linator4]

Gunther is a beast. Easily the best champ since Seth in 2018 & Miz in 2016. Gunther was a team player when he got called up. He didn’t complain about the name change or Imperium being split, and he got in shape because he knew the body type the Vince regime would expect from him. IMO he deserves to reign for another 115+ days to break Honky Tonk Man’s 454 record. I’d like to see him feud with Pete Dunne, Ilja Dragunov, & Tyler Bate again. I don’t think Drew is leaving but if he does go like he’s been teasing, a 1-on-1 war with Gunther would be the perfect way to write him off. Sheamus may still be my pick to dethrone Gunther just because he deserves to be a grand slam champion before he retires. Sometime between September & WM40 would be ideal. Edit: Drew is back & probably re-signed because he’s the one to dethrone Gunther. I feel Sheamus deserved it but I’d love to see Drew get that big coronation in front of a crowd that he missed at WM36. It’d be a throwback to his Chosen One days as IC Champion. I also wouldn’t mind Gunther just staying protected with the IC title, retiring Brock, & winning the World Heavyweight title right after to become a double champion like Keith Lee. Either you can have him drop the IC title in a multi-man match or just have him vacate it after winning the world title & being that unstoppable.

[@dragansnyder2786]

I still cannot believe that they not only had him rain for so much longer than The honky tonk Man, but they specifically ended his championship reign on day 66bleep, do we really need another Austrian man who can be vaguely associated with the devil?

[@lexiejames3514]

When I think of the intercontinental championship I automatically think of Chris Jericho

[@Officialmartha_perkins]

Hello 👋 Greetings from canada

[@ajtaylor8750]

Gunther has brought so much relevance and prominence back to the IC title. The longer he holds the higher he'll jump on this list.

[@Touristt]

Miz did that, it was irrelevant before Miz made it relevant

[@jeremywilliams5141]

Greg Valentine, Tito Santana, Rick Rude, Jeff Jarrett, and Wade Barrett are also worth mentioning.

[@brianticas7671]

Jeff Jarrett gets shit from fans and people but he had good matches man. His match with Shawn Michaels at in your house was pretty good. Him beating mabel was good too. His match against razor Ramon was also good.

[@ads153]

Adam, you're my favourite out of everyone on Cultaholic.

[@KatoenBroodje]

Same

[@BrynHarding]

If Tom's on a day off 😅

[@vb2806]

​@@BrynHarding Tom was one of my least favourites but now he doesn't just go off on a tangent and I like his news videos

[@ronkolek613]

Need you say more? Yes, yes you do. When you consider that Hart carried Smith through the biggest match of Smith’s career, that shows just how amazing Hart was.

[@D00MTR33]

Davey showed up after a 3 day crack binge with Neidhart (classic Anvil) and told Brett, "I'm fooked!!!" Brett said, "Davey, I got you". And he sure damn did.

[@johntitor7357]

Even though I don't like Hart much but he was one of the greatest in ring performers of all time

[@Officialmartha_perkins]

@@johntitor7357 Hello 👋 Greetings from canada

[@johntitor7357]

@@Officialmartha_perkins hello greetings from India

[@donjohn2695]

That's why Bret was the excellence of execution

[@daltonpinell6251]

Fans: The Intercontinental title is meaningless now, nothing could ever bring back its prestige Guther: Perhaps I could be of some help

[@stevenbabinski7635]

Hbk being an honorable mention and the ultimate warrior being on this list is criminal

[@garyjordan7158]

Yes, it's a joke. The IC title revolved around Shawn for years in the 90s. He literally was the IC division.

[@zachwalker522]

It's shocking. What?

[@donjohn2695]

Ultimate warrior was a great intercontinental champion he made the title as important as the WWF championship belt held by Hogan at the time regardless of whether he was a great in ring performer or not

[@garyjordan7158]

@@donjohn2695 yes, but he wasn't a better ic champ than Shawn.

[@oletretre6051]

@@garyjordan7158seriously and Warrior wasn’t the man held the belt for 220 days in both reigns the last one ended because he beat Hulk Hogan and Mania 6 and vacated the IC title Warrior was just as important as Micheal’s was in the 90’s

[@KingHiki]

Y'all have to do an update for the IC champion ranking video when Gunther's reign is finished. There's a good chance he could be number 1 by then

[@pyrusane]

I'd say easily number 2, if he breaks HTMs record reign, but Savage is going to be very hard to get past. When Randy had the IC title, he made it feel like it was just as important as the world title, something very few other champions have ever done. He never treated it as a stepping stone he treated it like it was the most important thing in his life.

[@KingHiki]

@@pyrusane Gunther has made it feel on the level of a world championship too only thing is he just happens to be champion at the same time as Tribal Chief Roman Reigns and no matter how big you are you no one will be as important as him right now

[@CardPlayingStrategies]

Honorable mention to Ricky Steamboat and Kurt Angle too

[@kadharefinley224]

Gunther has brought prestige to the Intercontinental Championship. He and Sheamus put on many banger matches 5 star classic’s. Gunther will definitely became World Champion in the future

[@Meatman8089]

Gunther looks like he survived a U boat sinking at 1,000 foot and was mildly annoyed about swimming to the surface.

[@BrockSamsonVB]

Jeff Hardy not being an honorable mention is wild

[@TrialzGTAS]

Whenever I think of the IC, I think of Shelton. He doesn’t get much love despite also being in the same class as Cena and Orton at OVW

[@Officialmartha_perkins]

Hello 👋 Greetings from canada

[@Boowey.]

The 3 names for me that spring to mind when i think about the IC title are The Miz, Chris Jericho & Dolph ziggler. Glad 2 of them were on the list sad dolph wasnt an honourable mention though.

[@SAAA31786]

Dolph Ziegler should of got an honourable mention!

[@McCrispyTaco]

Gunther, Rollins, and Christian have gotta be my favorites.

[@McCrispyTaco]

@@user-pu3ce3jt7h how

[@Car_Buyer_Class]

Good on you for having Pedro Morales on this list. He doesn't make enough of the "greatest" lists because most of the list makers aren't old enough to know, or are too lazy to do the research. Your knowledge has earned you yet another subscriber. Keep up the good work!

[@boydy1310]

The one the only Milan Miracle, 2 time intercontinental champion Santino Marella (who is just a short 454 days on the Honk-a-meter to become THE greatest intercontinental champion of all time ) absolutely robbed from being on this list

[@Ragan31687]

Personal bias but Razor Ramon is my number 1. He made the IC Title so important. So much so that a very young me got my parents to buy me the IC Foam Belt over the WWF one. I saw it as more prestigious because it was Razor’s title

[@dawnsullivan681]

That a fact💯 in arguably the most important member of NWO

[@dizzy1369]

I want Gunther to dethrone Roman and become the second person ever to hold the intercontinental and world championships simultaneously.

[@JXLYOFFICIAL]

great video! can you do the same type of video but for other titles? (WWE Title, US Title, NXT Title, etc.)

[@phild8238]

I had the honor of meeting Chris Jericho in 2016. I brought a toy IC belt for him to sign, it’s one of my most cherished items lol

[@JaimeD.]

Thank you for having the legend Pedro Morales in the Top 10 IC Champion list, Cultaholic.

[@jimmanycricket3756]

For a moment I thought the Honky Tonky Man was going to be criminally overlooked

[@thetruej7872]

The Miz, Gunther, Razor Ramon, and Chris Jericho are my favorite IC Champions

[@venomousnate7263]

Absolutely.

[@patt693]

Mine also

[@SuperFlyCarp]

“The best damn intercontinental champion… there ever was” is a special mention lol😂

[@bigbuddydaddy]

Forgot to mention Miz is also one reign away from tying the record with Jericho of most reigns. He's literally one reign away from being statistically the greatest intercontinental champion of all time. He's also currently the ONLY two time grand slam champion. It's criminal that he's not higher on this list.

[@zztop6460]

Austin Rock and Owen had a decent rivalry back in 97. Always liked Perfect as IC champ

[@zanethind]

Nothing gets better than that white and gold IC Championship

[@lbdjthethird1240]

Good list. In fact one of the better top 10 lists I have ever seen. I bet a lot of people are nodding their heads at most of the picks, hard to make arguments against them.

[@DJDoubleCee]

Ricky Steamboat should have had a longer reign. Kind of a shame that his reign only lasted a few months.

[@mjstory1976]

The only reason he dropped it was because he wanted to take time off the road

[@donjohn2695]

Well Vince screwed him over because Ricky wanted more time with his family so Vince being vindictive took the belt of him really quickly

[@AndrewCARNBORN]

Underrated IC title match: Zayn vs Styles vs Hardy in a Ladder match BANGER

[@g_wade_13]

How the hell is The Rock not on this list??? A 265-day reign and delivering some of his best heel work throughout '98 should definitely earn him a spot on this list. There's a solid argument to be made for HBK also.

[@lexkanyima2195]

The Rock made it credible, but it felt like a transitional reign

[@g_wade_13]

@@lexkanyima2195 I don’t think you understand what a transitional reign is. A transitional reign is a short reign between either two babyface champs or two heel champs, like Ivan Koloff in between Sammmartino & Morales, Iron Sheik between Backlund & Hogan, Backlund between Bret & Diesel. The Rock’s 8-9 month reign was definitely not transitional, especially by 1998 standards.

[@lexkanyima2195]

@@g_wade_13 but it was elevated

[@omars7951]

Think it’d be funny if the last defense for Gunther before he breaks the record, he has to face the honky Tonk man. It ends up being a 3 second squash..

[@omars7951]

@@WritusAndronicus I was referring to Gunther winning this squash

[@omars7951]

@@WritusAndronicus my bad hahaha

[@bielito23]

people seem to forget dolph 6x champ had great matches with the likes of cesaro and luke harper and in my opinion the greatest intercontinental title match in no mercy history against the miz

[@charliequirk7046]

As a youngster in England watching wwf on sky in the early 90's , it seemed you saw the IC champions a lot more , golden age with perfect ,Bret ,Bulldog and Michaels

[@Cobane823]

The honorable mentions sound the real list to me 😂

[@b0nkert0ns7]

Miz’s Talking Smack reign was so good

[@genv.b521]

The Honky Tonk Man's 454 days as Intercontinental Champion being the longest is impressive for staying that way for so long. But at this point, Gunther absolutely deserves to break that record.

[@lexkanyima2195]

How many days left ?

[@jodawa2504]

Look at what happened with the WWE Tag Team Championship. Demolition set the record for the longest WWE Tag Team Championship reign of all time, which stood unbroken & undefeated for 28 years until The New Day broke that record & set a new record Tag Team title reign of 483 days from August 2015-December 2016. Their record stood for 6 years until The Usos defeated The New Day to retain & surpass their record Tag Team title reign almost a year ago last summer. Nobody's had a long IC title reign since The Miz's 5th IC reign of 188 days, which was the longest IC reign for The Miz & the longest IC reign in WWE history since Shinsuke Nakamura's 1st IC title reign from June 2019-January 2020.

[@a.j.santiago303]

Honorable mentions: Greg Valentine, Rob Van Dam and Seth Rollins.

[@frylock97]

I think best IC Title matches should be their next list

[@adrianmcrae6584]

nation of domination ic title holders underrated

[@leifnielson6849]

Nice list. I always think though the list of IC Champs should be contained to the guys who never went on to wear the World belt

[@Extinguisher10]

I'd love to see that tournament in Rio De Janeiro!

[@WesOnTheWorld]

I just did this list as well. I had to leave Gunther out. My criteria was 300+ days.

[@WesOnTheWorld]

Besides Chyna. Lol.

[@mattmarshall569]

Spot on about Savage being the best IC champ. He was hitting his prime and had the in-ring skills and promo skills to make the title seem important. He even called himself the "Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion of the World" lol

[@Olliewood96]

I'm all on board for Gunther to break the Honky Tonk Man's record for longest reigning Intercontental champion!

[@brianjh]

Bret vs Perfect took place at SummerSlam 91, not 90 :)

[@danielcorreard3746]

my late uncle who loved wrestling for years once said of the honky tonk man he is living proof that those titles are bought and sold. lol

[@99wmac]

Warrior taking the title into a Mania main event (one of the biggest ever) and becoming the only reigning IC champ to win the World title, deserved more than a passing mention.

[@mattriddet227]

Adam has given himself a new video idea in top 10 Intercontinental Championship matches

[@OskeeWowWowIllinois23]

Matt you sick freak, get out of here!

[@GamblerOfFate777]

RVD definitely should be in the top 10 I don’t care what anyone says when I think of the Intercontinental Championship RVD immediately comes to my mind

[@_Sher__Lock_]

Macho & Perfect - best childhood WWF Memories! 👍

[@Shelver92]

I would have switched Honkytonk Man and Savage but your list is pretty fair.

[@sh-spectrum409]

I suspect this video will require an updated vid in the future when Walter becomes the longest reigning IC Champion in WWE History.

[@SJ_RANKS]

Rey Mysterio is one of my favourites in 2009

[@OskeeWowWowIllinois23]

Will you please shut up?

[@sXeAndriex]

So glad that the Miz has his 2016 run on here.

[@mlm2284]

For me the best is chyna ❤️

[@Officialmartha_perkins]

Hello 👋 Greetings from canada

[@jacksonstockbridge8920]

Great list, though I’m surprised Jeff Jarrett isn’t mentioned

[@mkhoicute]

The Miz should be the first ever 10-time IC Champion, he is the first superstar in PG Era that make the title looks so damn valuable, he deserves it.

[@coltonwalser7275]

Cultaholic you need to do a combo list of wcw and wwe light heavyweight and cruiser weight champions ranked worst ro best including the nxt cruiser weight

[@Nitemerican]

Miz always kills it as IC champ.

[@user-mo2gl3hd5s]

Miz not being 1 is a crime

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

7th September will be the day when Gunther will be the longest reigning IC Champ surpassing Honky Tonk Man's record

[@MyPisceanNature]

While he didn't win the title, Scott Hall did get a world title shot against Bret Hart at Royal Rumble '93.

[@derekmathis6245]

Who is that in the yellow pants in the last picture of Scotty Hall?

[@slytherinprime7384]

Miz deserve to be in top 3 coz he kept the belt relevant during the time no one cared

[@jackwilliamtaylor5656]

Slightly funny that Gunther is only at 8th here, given 9 months later he’s still holding the belt and literally days away from being the longest cumulative reigning champion in his singular reign.

[@MC-kq7on]

Can you do the top 10 greatest US championships?

[@kapalotkeith1675]

Gunther is now the greatest intercontinental champion of all time

[@andu1854]

Honky Tonk Man annoyed so many people, that you always thought he was finally going to lose and he would outsmart everyone until HTM got an opponent that didn’t let him get DQ’d or run away

[@Jayseman79]

The Classic Intercontinental Championship is my favourite belt of all time close is the winged eagle and the tag titles around the same era. Savage, Bret, Razor, Miz, Perfect, Honky Tonk Man, Shawn, Gunther are the goats. I probably missed a couple without fully watching the video. I would’ve said Steamboat but he didn’t hold it that long

[@patrikbroden6592]

A lot of wrestlers went from IC champ to world heavyweight Champ. But interesting question to ask is which wrestlers who were world champions has never been IC champ.

[@MusiliuJimoh-mt6kt]

Lesnar, Cena, undertaker

[@jackwells8107]

I know who I'd like to see get the IC championship, beat Honkytonk's record, and make history, but I doubt it will ever happen. With that aside, I can think of worse things they can do than (almost) start 'Gunther's WWE run with breaking that record. I mean, that's just in this upcoming September, I think. Can you imagine the competition at Summer Slam to stop him from breaking it? Can you imagine how presitgious the title becomes if he does break it? Can you imagine a MitB cash in on the Intercontinental Belt? Forget the Reign of Reign's; they could believably make the IC title the most intersting story in WWE.

[@krisbamburak7570]

Bret vs. British Bulldog at WWF Summerslam 92 can be considered the GOAT but I think WWF Wrestlemania 10 between HBK and Razor Ramon surpasses it

[@burnthetrolls5971]

Gunther has made the IC Title more prestigious in the last couple of months even if the World Champ is a part timer I prefer seeing the IC belt getting defended by a work horse like Gunther

[@Christian-ui2vb]

To me RVD has to be top ten. Talk about guys that appreciated the belt and put on great matches with it

[@brianharley6452]

The ultimate warrior was amazing. Juiced to the hill tho 😂😂

[@ads153]

I haven't seen the video but hopefully Gunther becomes number 1 by the end of his reign

[@anthonybaggott9825]

Jericho, Gunther, The Miz. That’s your top 3 right there, and I won’t debate. Gunther’s current reign is well on its way to making the greatest title reign of any championship ever though. 5 Star match, after 5 Star match.

[@oliverl.5834]

My first thought was "Warrior above HBK" ... Then cometh The Miz ... 🥶

[@jerranspearman3369]

good video

[@TheMGSlow]

I've been wanting Miz to win it again for years now to tie the record for holding it the most. Then lose it within days of breaking the record (so within 20 days of winning it) for holding it the longest leading to The Miz having to go all out to win it back so he can break both records.

[@KostasD99]

Honorable mentions to Ricky Steamboat who losts his title due to family matters and issues with Mcmahon, Kofi Kingston who won that title one year after his debut at ECW, Dolph Ziggler 6 time IC Champion with great feuds and matches like the one with Luke Harper at TLC 2014 and Big E 2 time IC Champion who's now injured and hope everything's okey with him and soon come back in action!

[@markjones952]

I got my long sideburns and my hair slicked back. I'm coming to your town in my pink Cadillac.

[@babyfaceaviator7862]

Cody Rhoades deserved at least an honorable mention

[@zachwalker522]

😮 Shawn Michaels is an honourable mention. Damn, this is a tough list. I'm actually shocked he's not top 5

[@multiyapples]

Interesting list.

[@Officialmartha_perkins]

Hello 👋 Greetings from canada

[@TheDgenerationB]

Really surprised The Miz didn't make the top 5.

[@user-kz2rw4zs9f]

Gunther is no 1 at this point.✊✊

[@lilpoetat]

Thanks 🙏