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

Credit: WWE.com

4. Wade Barrett

Despite being released from WWE, Wade Barrett had a lot of potential as a top guy and that is evidenced by his five reigns as Intercontinental Champion for a total of 395 days.

His first reign came when he defeated Kofi Kingston for the Intercontinental Championship on an episode of SmackDown. This involved a title defense against Kofi and a lengthy feud with former Corre member, Ezekiel Jackson, who he eventually lost the title to.

Barrett’s second reign once again began with the defeat of Kofi Kingston for the belt. This time it was on an episode of RAW. After a couple of defenses, Barrett lost the title to The Miz at the WrestleMania kick off show.

He then quickly recaptured the gold for the third time with a win over The Miz the RAW after WrestleMania. After feuding with both The Miz and Fandango, Barrett eventually lost the title to Curtis Axel in a triple threat match.

Barrett’s next reign as Intercontinental Champion would come under his new gimmick of Bad News Barrett. He defeated Big E at Extreme Rules for the Intercontinental Championship after winning a tournament to crown the #1 contender for the belt.

Barrett looked to be ready for a successful run with the belt after defending the Intercontinental Championship against RVD and qualifying for the Money in the Bank ladder match, but an injury forced Barrett to vacate the title.

After his return to action, Barrett quickly recaptured the Intercontinental Championship for the fifth time in his career by defeating Ziggler. He then faced various non-title losses until he lost the Intercontinental Championship in a multi-man ladder match at WrestleMania.

While Barrett never saw a lengthy run with the belt or a transition to the main event scene due to holding it, his multiple reigns created stability in the mid card and was able to give the Intercontinental Championship credibility.