How WWE Can Boost the Intercontinental Championship
By Dean Siemon
With the influx of WWE talent over the past few months in addition to having Dean Ambrose as Intercontinental Champion, the classic title can gain some resurgence.
The WWE Intercontinental Championship has had a lot of history with some of the biggest legends having held the championship; from the inaugural champion Pat Patterson to the “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior. It was even considered almost as prestigious as the WWE Championship back in the day, with the Intercontinental Champion headlining some house show tours.
Faster forward to around 2013 when the belt was going around unproven young stars who weren’t necessarily ready to hold a championship like Curtis Axel and Big E Langston. It was also held by Luke Harper for less than a month in 2014, but the title reign felt a little random, as if the creative staff threw darts at a board and hit his name.
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The WWE Universe hasn’t really been able to look at the Intercontinental Championship as a title to be taken as serious as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. While the latter should be ranked above, consider that the Intercontinental Champion was commonly given to talents who were at that main event level.
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The good news is that there is a way for the WWE to reestablish the prestige the championship had and still use it as a launching pad for some select talents who are trying to build themselves up to the main event level on the main roster – including newly acquired A.J. Styles and the upcoming debuts from NXT.
The current champion Dean Ambrose is a good start. He’s someone who is still developing himself as a main event star and having the crowd behind him is essential to that success. The WWE fans consider the names that WWE has brought to the company the past few years to that same regard.
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While maybe the current creative staff might not be willing to put the top championship belt around the waist of an Ambrose or Styles, consider the Intercontinental Championship a good belt to test the waters. The fans will become more interested in a championship that is held by Ambrose and has to face off against other stars that they are behind. Let’s throw Bray Wyatt in there, even though I don’t think he puts much stock in holding championship gold.
Picture Styles feuding with Owens and/or Ambrose (especially if he gets to have a heel character similar to his time at Florida Championship Wrestling) and wanting the Intercontinental Championship. It will establish a lot more credibility to the title and can also be a goal for some of the expected call-ups like Samoa Joe – and who wouldn’t want to see Styles and Joe have a series of matches involving a championship.
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The WWE singles championship hierarchy can start at the top with the World Heavyweight Championship, followed by the Intercontinental Championship and then the United States Championship, because that can be more like the European Championship for mid-card talents – sorry, Kalisto.
This is in no way saying that these talents are going to bring the belt to the same level that Warrior and Savage brought it up, but it is a chance to bring the Intercontinental Championship from the cellar of irrelevance in the collective mind of WWE fans.