Intercontinental Championship: Top Ten Superstars Who Defined The Title

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6. The Honky Tonk Man

When thinking about the Intercontinental title, The Honky Tonk Man has to immediately come to mind. The self proclaimed “Greatest Intercontinental Champion of All-Time” was pretty close to being that, although he’s not quite there. Yes, his single reign of 454 days still holds up to this day as the longest reign in history. However, his run as champ wasn’t as impressive as the numbers look. A number of HTM’s title defenses ended in count-outs and disqualifications. In fact, of his 41 total defenses, only 15 ended with The Honky Tonk Man pinning his foe. Granted, this was a phenomenal heel tactic that garnered him a ton of heat with the audience, it doesn’t exactly paint him as a dominant champion.

But that’s not to take anything away from him and his run as IC champ. He won the belt in shocking fashion when he defeated Ricky Steamboat in Buffalo, New York in a match that lasted less than four minutes. What made it so stunning was that Steamboat had only had the belt for two months after beating Randy Savage in what many believed would be a WWE-career changing moment. But HTM was too smart that night as he used a hook of the tights to win the belt. He would spend the next 15 months fighting off challenges by guys like Koko B. Ware, Brutus Beefcake, and in rematches with Steamboat. We was also the heel in the middle of Savage and Hulk Hogan forming the Mega-Powers in 1988.

Much like Don Muraco, HTM’s best WWE moments came while IC champ as he washed out of the company within three years of losing it to The Ultimate Warrior. But he has cemented a legacy and record that has yet to be broken over 25 years later. Maybe he wasn’t always the most dominant, but he may have possibly been the craftiest IC champ of all time.