All 17 WWE Intercontinental Champions of the 2010’s So Far, Ranked

Credit: WWE

5. Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens, a guy that was never supposed to be in the WWE because of his image, has had a great singles run. The current United States Champion and former Universal Champion also held the Intercontinental Championship twice for a total of 133 days.

His first run with the gold began when he cheated to defeat Ryback for the Intercontinental Championship at Night of Champions. Owens successfully defended the title against Ryback but later lost it to Dean Ambrose.

It was not long until Owens managed to win his title back. He competed in a Fatal 5 Way match for the Intercontinental Championship match on an episode of RAW that he won. RAW then became the Kevin Owens Show.

Owens did a good job of keeping the spotlight on him and his belt throughout his defense against Ziggler, but he really drew attention with his KO-Mania gimmick around WrestleMania time.

KO used his heelish tactics to avoid competition, but he ended up getting himself a multi-man ladder match at WrestleMania instead. This ended up being unexpectedly won by Zack Ryder.

These runs with the Intercontinental Championship proved Owens could hang as a champion, and he quickly got rewarded for his work with a run as RAW‘s Universal Champion.

When someone moves up the card that quickly, it helps both the champion and the championship.