The current WWE Intercontinental Championship belt with default side plates (2019–present)
Details
Promotion
WWE
Brand
Raw
Date established
September 1, 1979
Current champion(s)
Sami Zayn
Date won
April 6, 2024
Other name(s)
WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship (1979–1992)
WWF Intercontinental Championship (1992–2002)
WWE Intercontinental Championship (2002, 2003–present)
Statistics
First champion(s)
Pat Patterson
Most reigns
Chris Jericho (9 reigns)
Longest reign
Gunther (666 days)
Shortest reign
Dean Douglas (14 minutes)
Oldest champion
Ric Flair (56 years, 205 days)
Youngest champion
Jeff Hardy (23 years, 222 days)
Heaviest champion
Big Show (441 lb (200 kg))
Lightest champion
Rey Mysterio (175 lb (79 kg))
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, 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 on SmackDown. The current champion is Sami Zayn, who is in his fourth reign. He won the title by defeating Gunther during night one of WrestleMania XL on April 6, 2024.
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,[1] with Pat Patterson as the inaugural champion. It is the third-oldest championship currently active in WWE, behind the WWE Championship (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, SummerSlam in 1992, the third and eighth In Your House shows, Backlash in 2001, and at Extreme Rules in 2018. It has been called a "stepping stone" to a WWE world championship.[2][3]
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.
^Brookhouse, Brent (December 2, 2020). "WWE legend Pat Patterson, first intercontinental champion and creative force, dead at 79". CBSSports. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
^Powers, Kevin (March 21, 2012). "10 great streaks that came to an end". WWE. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
^McNamara, Andy (November 17, 2008). "Intercontinental title DVD a decent collection". SLAM! Sports: Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
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