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For all of its low points, the Intercontinental Championship can occasionally be a shining beacon in WWE. Adam Blampied is here to list the 10 best WWE Intercontinental Championship matches of all time.
0:00 - Start
2:16 - 10
3:02 - 9
4:11 - 8
5:09 - 7
6:10 - 6
7:02 - 5
8:02 - 4
8:57 - 3
9:59 - 2
11:00 - 1
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Read more Feature content here on WrestleTalk.com: https://wrestletalk.com/features/
For all of its low points, the Intercontinental Championship can occasionally be a shining beacon in WWE. Adam Blampied is here to list the 10 best WWE Intercontinental Championship matches of all time.
0:00 - Start
2:16 - 10
3:02 - 9
4:11 - 8
5:09 - 7
6:10 - 6
7:02 - 5
8:02 - 4
8:57 - 3
9:59 - 2
11:00 - 1
SUBSCRIBE TO partsFUNknown: https://bit.ly/2J2Hl6q
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/partsfunknown
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/partsfunknown/
Buy wrestling merchandise here: https://www.wrestleshop.com/
Read more Feature content here on WrestleTalk.com: https://wrestletalk.com/features/
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SportsTranscript
00:00Serious question, is the Intercontinental Championship my favorite championship in wrestling history?
00:05I don't know how I can expect you to answer that because last time I checked, you're not me and you never will be.
00:10Despite WWE's best efforts to make the title irrelevant during the dark days of the 2010s, I think it might just be my favorite title.
00:18It's the Maximum Effort Championship, a platform for brass ring-grabbing mid-carders,
00:22and unlike the WWE Championship matches, which WWE seem to overcomplicate with sports entertainment bollocks more often than not,
00:28Intercontinental matches tended to be allowed to, you know, finish.
00:33Honestly, looking back over this list, I've gone back and re-watched these matches maybe more than any other top matches list.
00:39This right here, this is the good stuff.
00:42I'm Adam Haling from Parts of Unknown, and here are 10 best Intercontinental title matches ever.
00:47Alright, stop me if you've heard this one before.
00:49It's a late night, Netflix hasn't got anything you fancy.
00:52You've already watched Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and even NXT Level Up, as well as everything AEW has to offer this week.
00:57Heck, you've even gone and downloaded Impact Plus because you need to binge all the King of the Mountain matches.
01:02If only there was a way to break out the confines of your region's streaming services and instead experience something new.
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02:16Number 10, AJ Styles versus Daniel Bryan Smackdown 2020.
02:19Do you have any idea, do you have any f***ing idea how good a pandemic match has to be to make it onto one of these lists?
02:26And not even the part of the pandemic where they brought a bunch of TVs in and piped in crowd noise.
02:30The part where they had a bunch of random developmental talent being instructed to cheer at gunpoint.
02:35This match managed to be better than both matches where they wrestled for the WWE title in front of people.
02:40Such is the magic of the Intercontinental title, I suppose.
02:43It's a hard-hitting, head-stamping bit of technical wizardry that deserves to be seen,
02:47even if you hate the nether realm that was crowdless COVID wrestling.
02:50The counter of that psycho knee into a Styles Clash is just peachy.
02:55And it's great that before Bryan left the company, that at least one of his matches with the phenomenal one lived up to both men's full potential.
03:02Number 9, Bret Hart versus Mr. Perfect SummerSlam 1991.
03:05This is an older match and may lack some of the bells and whistles of the modern era,
03:08but it's really buoyed by a stellar Hulkamania era crowd.
03:11At SummerSlam 91, Bret Hart began his ascendancy to single superstardom
03:16by knocking off Mr. Perfect for the IC title,
03:18and compared to slow-moving titans of the main event scene,
03:21the main event of this pay-per-view, by the way, features Sgt. Slaughter and Iron Sheik.
03:25Ha ha ha, f*** me.
03:26Compared to those, this contest between the two best techers boys on the roster was a breath of fresh air.
03:32It's just the extra levels of care and thought that fill in the gaps of Bret Hart matches.
03:36No one just sits in the rest hole.
03:38They claw at hair and they try to fight their way out, and that gets the crowd more invested.
03:42No one just runs the ropes, they reverse them by grabbing limbs or slamming their sternums into turnbuckles,
03:49making every twist and turn seem significant and keep the crowd and the commentators invested.
03:54This match is called by Roddy Piper and Bobby Heenan, and Gorilla Monsoon as well,
03:58but mostly those two, so it's worth the price of admission alone.
04:00Fast and smooth, it's a masterpiece of subtlety,
04:04marred only slightly by Hebner being a little too quick to ring the bell
04:06after a blistering transition into the sharpshooter.
04:08Slow down, Hebbs!
04:10Number 8, Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon WrestleMania 10.
04:13It might not seem like it in the context of ladder matches of today,
04:16the IC ladder matches at Mania's 31 and 32 have more spots in two minutes than this whole match, probably,
04:21but back in the day, this was all bells and all whistles, and it blew people's tiny minds.
04:27A classic in every sense of the word.
04:29This match still holds up because A, the crowd reactions are a novelty all of themselves,
04:33and B, the lack of spots actually makes the match seem way more dangerous than what ladder matches have sort of become a conveyor belt of spots.
04:41And C, there's actually way more match than most ladder matches,
04:45with the two clickmates executing really solid technical resting before the ladder even comes into play,
04:49so that when it does, it's even more impactful.
04:51Helps when you also have Shawn Michaels, one of the best bumpers of all time,
04:54bouncing around the steel like a man on fire.
04:56Also, even in all the ladder matches that there's been,
04:59this is still one of the best closing sequences,
05:01with Shawn getting tangled in the ropes and Razor desperately tearing the belts down as Shawn lunged for the ladder.
05:07It's f***ing brilliant.
05:08Number 7, Randy Orton vs. Cactus Jack, Backlash 2004.
05:12Bloody hell, though.
05:14With one countered RKO, Randy Orton became a man that day,
05:17picking thumbtacks out of his hand in a spot that still sends a shiver all the way down the spine.
05:21Randy Orton was doing his legend killer thing on his career-defining IC title run as part of Evolution,
05:26where he ran afoul of history's craziest Santa Claus, Mick Foley,
05:29who digivolved into Cactus Jack, to do for Randall what he did for Paul back at the Royal Rumble 2000,
05:35i.e. take a smarmy pretty boy and send them through the fire,
05:38turning them into a legit main event.
05:40It's an insane parade of spots with almost no let-up.
05:43Could have done without my dad, Eric Bischoff, coming out to briefly lecture Mick about fire safety,
05:47but other than that, it's a perpetual nightmare of barbed wire stage dives and blood,
05:52just picturing Cactus staying up all night,
05:54making that barbed wire bed.
05:56He's got Stevie Nicks on in the background,
05:58getting frustrated because the ends of the gaffer tape keep sticking together.
06:02Between Trips, Orton, and later Edge,
06:04Mick Foley is the patron saint of carving top guys out of solid suffering.
06:096. Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Ricky the Dragon Steamboat WrestleMania 3
06:13Some wrestlers prefer to call it in the ring,
06:15and some, like Randy Savage, map out matches to the millisecond,
06:18and hey, when the end result is the best match in the first decade of WrestleMania,
06:21fair play. Even by modern standards, this match is a firecracker,
06:26lightning quick, precisely timed and full of little story beats,
06:29calling back to their surprisingly barbaric feud of Macho nearly killing Steamboat's career
06:34with that bell shot to the throat.
06:35Also, when Steamboat finally rolls up Savage to win the title,
06:39it's an absolutely monumental victory,
06:41because Macho Man had held the title for over a full year at this point.
06:44I mean, sure, George the Animal Steel was also there,
06:47because why wouldn't Phil Mitchell's fluffy testicle be at ring style,
06:50for one of the most vaunted technical displays in the history of the sport?
06:53It's a match featuring two of the best in the world at the time,
06:55acting as a perfect combination of Southern technical focus
06:58and WWE's foreign object narrative shenanigans.
07:015. Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho the Bash 2009
07:05Risky business to have the story of your match being someone trying to remove Rey Mysterio's mask,
07:09because if that thing breaks, it can really dunk a match.
07:11See also Rey and Eddie's match at WrestleMania 21.
07:13But this match at the Bash, putting both Mysterio's mask and Chris Jericho's icy title up for grabs,
07:18was unbelievably good.
07:20It's just perfect pro wrestling.
07:21Two incredibly talented workers with excellent chemistry,
07:24high stakes, and really strong personalities
07:26to cut the grabs with enough silly storytelling to keep the fans super invested.
07:30Chris Jericho especially is a glorious prick in this match,
07:35desperately trying to rip the mask off Rey's face,
07:37like he doesn't even give a damn about how merchandisable they are.
07:40You can tell it's a feud ender as well,
07:41with both men pulling out counter after counter after counter to each other's big moves,
07:45especially in the last five minutes of the match,
07:47which seems to crowd bite poor everything before the big magic trick at the end.
07:51Rey is so often portrayed as a simple babyface,
07:54so him actually outsmarting Chris Jericho of all people with a mask within a mask
07:58is a lovely little touch for his character.
08:01Awesome match this.
08:02Number 4.
08:03Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit Royal Rumble 2001
08:06I might have my nostalgia glasses stapled firmly to my head,
08:09you know, like all wrestling fans,
08:11but this is still one of the best ladder matches of all time.
08:13Ask me to name favourite spots from ladder matches,
08:15and half the ones that come to mind are still ones from this match at the Royal Rumble 2001.
08:19The walls of Jericho on top of the ladder should have been the finish.
08:22The suicide dive into the chair shot.
08:23Chris Benoit falling off the ladder, bouncing off the ropes to the outside.
08:27Jericho, Benoit, Guerrero, RBD, Edge, Christian,
08:31all of these men cemented their place in mid-card legend with intercontinental ladder matches.
08:37Honestly, the only top guy from WWE's mid-card back then
08:40who never fought for the dangling strap was Kurt Angle.
08:43Seems mad, but of all those stellar contests, this one is the best.
08:47Spectacular without sacrificing technical skill,
08:50brutal without spilling a drop of blood,
08:51is an absolute clinic in how no one could touch WWE in early 2001.
08:56Number three, Gunter vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus, WrestleMania 39.
09:01Gunter is my favourite thing,
09:03and I feel confident saying that Murder Accountant has not had a bad match in WWE yet.
09:07Actually, wait, remember that Survivor Series match
09:09where they eliminated him immediately for no reason?
09:11Ah, f***ing hell.
09:13I'm not gonna lie, I could have done without Titus O'Neil on commentary for this match,
09:17repeatedly screaming for someone to call the police,
09:19and also the repeated adverts for Hard Lemonade.
09:22But otherwise, this is about as good a hoss fight as you can get.
09:25Three men who satisfy three very different daddy kinks,
09:27beating the brakes off each other for our viewing pleasure,
09:30and it's just as messy and violent as any decent psychopath could desire.
09:34The little micro-match between Drew and Gunther as well,
09:36it's just leathering each other with chops.
09:39It's so exciting.
09:40It gets a little mini standing ovation,
09:42and it's a very exciting little preview for what's sure to be a five-star affair at SummerSlam.
09:46Great little subplot of Drew and Sheamus' deteriorating friendship as well.
09:49It's just so good.
09:50And it's genuinely lovely to hear Michael Cole giggling on commentary
09:53at the sheer amount of absurd, fun, nightmare, slap-happy stuff happening on screen.
09:58Number two, Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro vs. The Miz Extreme Rules 2016.
10:03I feel like I'm gonna get attacked for putting this above the WrestleMania 39 match,
10:06but Hot Damn I just re-watched it.
10:08It's up there for being one of my favorite matches ever.
10:10It's just got all my top lads in it.
10:11Cesaro's amazing.
10:12Sami and Kevin not only great themselves, but have a bloody brilliant story going on.
10:17And I don't care what Luke says.
10:18I love this era of The Miz.
10:20I've waxed poetic about this match before in our list of best fatal four-ways of all time.
10:24Watch that list and send me presents.
10:26But it bears repeating.
10:27This is a match with not only a beautiful pace,
10:29a sense of spectacle,
10:31and an emotional core of Sami and Kev,
10:33there's also a really fun joke at the heart of it.
10:35What would happen if the most sports entertainment man to ever exist
10:39crashed a Ring of Honor wrestling match with all three ROH alumni putting each other through hell
10:44and Miz repeatedly sneaking in to pick up the scraps?
10:46I made it clear in my favorite matches of the year list, watch, present,
10:50that I love multi-man matches with a lot of silly moving parts.
10:52And this is a shining example of that,
10:54and a brilliant example of what the IC title belt can do,
10:56shine a huge spotlight on an extremely talented mid-card.
11:00And number one, Gunther vs. Sheamus Clash at the Castle 2022.
11:04As much fun as a good multi-man can be,
11:07you've got to love a really good singles match for the Intercontinental title.
11:10Nothing more maximum effort than two mid-card guys really going for it for the IC.
11:16And this is probably the best example of that maybe ever.
11:20Sheamus rejuvenated his whole career in one match,
11:23Imperium got back together,
11:25and Gunther truly arrived on the main roster,
11:28all wrapped up in pure five-star violence.
11:31From the moment Giovanni Vinci appeared,
11:33to the really fun faction chaos as Gunther and Sheamus stare each other down,
11:37to the 20 minutes of brutality that followed,
11:39the match was so good it created an instantly iconic pairing,
11:43so much so that they immediately ran it back at the Royal Rumble.
11:45Not only was the match supremely violent,
11:47there was also tight psychology in the targeting of Sheamus' back,
11:50hat played into the finish,
11:52plus the overjoyed UK fans showing Sheamus the kind of love he hadn't received in so very long.
11:57I had a blast watching it in Gunther's matches.
12:00I just like that.
12:01They leave you giddy with how much punishment everyone's taking in front of you.
12:05Long may he reign.
12:07And that's it.
12:07What's your favourite Intercontinental title match?
12:09Let us know in the comments.
12:10And check out the worst that we did in a list last week.
12:14You can check out a snippet of that right now.
12:16Let's use this opportunity to talk about IC title matches.
12:19We'll be talking about the best next week,
12:21and get used to hearing Gunther's name there.
12:22But to prepare us, let's ruin our appetite with some hot, tasty garbage.
12:26Because even though the IC title was supposed to be the best
12:28air quotes wrestling match on a given card,
12:31it really hasn't always felt that way.
12:33I'm Adam Haling from...
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