The

WWE Intercontinental Championship The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, currently defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roste ...

is a

professional wrestling championship A championship or title in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations. Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in predetermined rivalr ...

contested in and owned 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, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

on the SmackDown brand. The title was introduced into the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1979. Pat Patterson, holder 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 b ...

, was awarded the title (with the

kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe, as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged ...

explanation that he won a tournament in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and unified the North American and South American titles). The Intercontinental Championship has been called the second most important championship in the company, after the

WWE Championship The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDown' ...

. It has been active in WWE for the second-longest period, but is the third-oldest active title, behind the WWE Championship (1963) and the United States Championship (1975), the latter of which was acquired from

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (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 Nation ...

(WCW) in 2001. In 2002, the WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and the championship was renamed accordingly. As a result of the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up, it is exclusively contested on the SmackDown brand. Overall, there have been 89 different Intercontinental Champions.

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jerich ...

holds the record for the most reigns with nine.

The Honky Tonk Man Roy Wayne Farris (born January 25, 1953), better known by the ring name The Honky Tonk Man, is an American retired professional wrestler. He previously wrestled for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE ...

holds the longest reign at 454 days. Only three other wrestlers,

Pedro Morales Pedro Antonio Morales (October 22, 1942 – February 12, 2019) was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with Worldwide Wrestling Associates (WWA) and the World Wide Wrestling Federatio ...

Don Muraco Don Muraco (born September 10, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler and podcaster. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1981 to 1988, where he held the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Cha ...

, and

Randy Savage Randall Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestl ...

, have held the championship for a continuous reign of more than a year. Gunther is the current champion in his first reign. He defeated previous champion

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

on ''

SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes sim ...

'' in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

on June 10, 2022.

Title history

Names

Reigns

As of , .

Combined reigns

:As of , . Patterson IC belt

Jericho 9th Intercontinental Championship

Notes

References

External links

Official WWE Intercontinental Championship Title History

{{Featured list WWE championships lists