The WWF Intercontinental Championship is the second most prestigious
title a World Wrestling Federation wrestler can hold, below only the
WWF Championship itself.
The holder of the IC belt is usually a midcarder who is being rewarded
for good work and pushed to the top of the midcard by gaining the strap. It is sometimes a stepping stone to bigger and better things--luminaries such as The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, HHH, Randy Savage, the Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and and Kurt Angle all held the Intercontinental Championship before going on to being the WWF Champion.
On the other hand, sometimes the Intercontinental belt is the highlight of a wrestler's career--people like Val Venis, Jeff Jarrett, The Godfather,
Ken Shamrock, Marc Mero, Marty Janetty, and Ahmed Johnson failed
miserably as IC champions and never went on to anything better.
The two most famous matches involving the WWF Intercontinental Championship
are:
"The Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat
for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, Wrestlemania III. If you've never heard of this match or the feud building up for it... well... there's no hope for ya. Until Steamboat topped himself in his classic match with Ric Flair at WrestleWar '89, this was considered the greatest match of all time. Mark, smart, smark, whatever, it doesn't matter. This match just rules. No stips, no 60 minute slobberknockers, just 15 minutes of the quickest, stiffest, all-around best wrestling you will ever see. And, just to top it all off, the heat is just as powerful here as the work is. The standing ovation when Steamboat FINALLY, after months of following Savage around the country in rage, becomes the NEEEEWWWWWWWW Intercontinental Champion is unlike anything I've ever heard before. It's just about the only thing I actually remember about the damn card from when I first saw it way back in 1987. THAT was the advantage of having champs STAY champs for years on end... the blowoffs were absolutely monumental. I won't bother to do play-by-play (do I ever?), which is available tons of other places. The end comes when Savage picks Steamboat up for a bodyslam, but Steamboat grabs the leg and cradles Savage --> pin to become the new WWF Intercontinental Champion. *****
Shawn Michaels w/Diesel vs. Razor Ramon in a Ladder
Match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, Wrestlemania X. Ahhh, the good ol' days, when this was one of two matches with any special stipulations at all on the entire card. What can I possibly add to this match? This was the first great ladder match, the one that all others since then try to emulate. Michaels falls off the ladder, gets tangled in ropes ---> Ramon climbs and gets the belts to retain the IC belt. This is considered one of the two or three greatest professional wrestling matches of all time.