WWE: Top 10 greatest Intercontinental Champions of all-time
6. Shawn Michaels
If the WWE Intercontinental Championship is the workhorse title of professional wrestling, then it’s hard to even imagine excluding Shawn Michaels from this list. Regarded by many as the best in-ring performer of all time, The Heartbreak Kid proved that he could steal the show with a title that has since seen many attempts to walk in the footprints he left behind.
A three-time WWE Intercontinental Champion who had multiple matches for the title at WrestleMania, Michaels is as valid a choice for No. 1 as any—regardless of where he ends up on your list.
Michaels actually won the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award for Match of the Year in both 1993 and 1994—and 1995, 1996, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. The first two of those seemingly endless accolades, however, were secured in WWE Intercontinental Championship bouts.
Those nigh-iconic matches were against Marty Janetty and Razor Ramon, with the latter ranking amongst the most prolific matches in wrestling history.
The clash with Razor Ramon at WrestleMania X helped define and revolutionize the Ladder Match. The fact that said match was over the Intercontinental Championship must be considered here, as it helped elevate and establish the title in the post-Savage years.
Michaels and Ramon also wrestled an underrated gem of a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam 1995.
In addition to wrestling classics over the title, Michaels became one of the most decorated champions the belt has ever seen.
Michaels was just the third wrestler in history to hold the WWE Intercontinental Title on three separate occasions. During that time, he accumulated a downright ridiculous 403 days with the hardware. That places him at 10th all-time.
It also further solidifies his appearance in this Top 10.
When one considers that multiple generations of wrestlers have done their best to recreate Michaels’ in-ring genius and look, and a vast majority have pursued or secured the Intercontinental Championship along the way, it’s hard to keep HBK out of the top five.
That influence, combined with his genius as a champion, puts him high on this list.