Intercontinental Championship: Top Ten Superstars Who Defined The Title

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8. Don Muraco

When it’s all said and done, Don Muraco can always say two very impressive things about his WWE career. For one, he’s a two-time Intercontinental Champion. But secondly, both of his title wins came against pro wrestling legend Pedro Morales. Morales, who had already gone on a 1,000-plus day run as the company’s world champion in the early 70’s, was still getting the job done while approaching 40 years old in the beginning part of the 1980’s. And it was in June of 1981 that he was on the losing end for the first time against a then 32 year-old Muraco.

Muraco’s first reign was a good one at 194 days before losing it back to Morales. However, Muraco would pull of the feat again in January of 1983 and this time would hold the belt for 385 days, currently the fourth longest reign in WWE history. Muraco, a true heel, would have his hands full for the entire 541 days that he was IC champ as battled baby faces the likes of Tony Garea, Tony Atlas, Bob Backlund, and Rocky Johnson. Perhaps the highlight of his title reigns was his iconic steel cage match with Jimmy Snuka in Madison Square Garden when “Superfly” splashed Muraco off the top of the cage to cap off their scintillating rivalry.

Clearly Muraco’s greatest successes came while Intercontinental Champion which were the early stages of his WWE career. After dropping his second title to Tito Santana of February of 1984, things looked good for “Magnificent”. However, after a short world title program with Hulk Hogan and a win at the first ever King of the Ring tournament, Muraco fell out of favor and by 1988 was out of the company for good. However, his achievements did not go unnoticed, as he, like Santana, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004 and will undoubtedly go down as one of the most successful IC champs of all time.