Three-time and current champion Finn Bálor
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship contested in and owned by the American promotion WWE on the Raw brand. The title was introduced into the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1979. Pat Patterson, holder of the WWF North American Heavyweight Championship, was awarded the title (with the kayfabe explanation that he won a tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and unified the North American and South American titles).
The Intercontinental Championship has been called the second most important championship in the company, after the WWE Championship. It has been active in WWE for the second longest period, but is the third oldest active title, behind the WWE Championship (1963) and the United States Championship (1975), the latter of which was acquired from World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 2001. In 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and the championship was renamed as the WWE Intercontinental Championship. As a result of the 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up, it is exclusively contested on the Raw brand.
Overall, there have been 77 different Intercontinental Champions. Chris Jericho holds the record for the most reigns with ten, The Honky Tonk Man holds the longest reign at 454 days. Only three other wrestlers – Pedro Morales, Don Muraco and Randy Savage – have held the championship for a continuous reign of more than a year. The current champion is Finn Bálor, who is in his third reign. He defeated Seth Rollins on the June 18 episode of Raw.
Title history[]
Names[]
| Name | Years |
|---|---|
| WWF Intercontinental Championship | September 1, 1979 – May 6, 2002 |
| WWE Intercontinental Championship | May 6, 2002 – October 20, 2002; May 18, 2003 – present |
Reigns[]
As of April 19, 2024.
| Reign | The reign number for the specific champion listed |
|---|---|
| Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title was won |
| † | Indicates the title change is not recognized by WWE |
| + | Indicates the current reign is changing daily |
| <1 | Indicates reign was less than a day |
| No. | Champion | Reign | Date | Days held | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pat Patterson | 1 | September 1, 1979 | 233 | — |
| 2 | Ken Patera | 1 | April 21, 1980 | 231 | House show |
| 3 | Pedro Morales | 1 | December 8, 1980 | 194 | House show |
| 4 | Don Muraco | 1 | June 20, 1981 | 156 | House show |
| 5 | Pedro Morales | 2 | November 23, 1981 | 425 | House show |
| 6 | Don Muraco | 2 | January 22, 1983 | 385 | House show |
| 7 | Tito Santana | 1 | February 11, 1984 | 226 | House show |
| 8 | Greg Valentine | 1 | September 24, 1984 | 285 | House show |
| 9 | Tito Santana | 2 | July 6, 1985 | 217 | House show |
| 10 | Randy Savage | 1 | February 8, 1986 | 414 | House show |
| 11 | Ricky Steamboat | 1 | March 29, 1987 | 65 | WrestleMania III |
| 12 | The Honky Tonk Man | 1 | June 2, 1987 | 454 | Superstars of Wrestling |
| 13 | The Ultimate Warrior | 1 | August 29, 1988 | 216 | SummerSlam |
| 14 | Rick Rude | 1 | April 2, 1989 | 148 | WrestleMania V |
| 15 | The Ultimate Warrior | 2 | August 28, 1989 | 216 | SummerSlam |
| — | Vacated | — | April 1, 1990 | — | WrestleMania VI |
| 16 | Mr. Perfect | 1 | April 23, 1990 | 126 | Superstars of Wrestling |
| 17 | The Texas Tornado | 1 | August 27, 1990 | 84 | SummerSlam |
| 18 | Mr. Perfect | 2 | November 19, 1990 | 280 | Superstars of Wrestling |
| 19 | Bret Hart | 1 | August 26, 1991 | 144 | SummerSlam |
| 20 | The Mountie | 1 | January 17, 1992 | 2 | House show |
| 21 | Roddy Piper | 1 | January 19, 1992 | 77 | Royal Rumble |
| 22 | Bret Hart | 2 | April 5, 1992 | 146 | WrestleMania VIII |
| 23 | The British Bulldog | 1 | August 29, 1992 | 59 | SummerSlam |
| 24 | Shawn Michaels | 1 | October 27, 1992 | 202 | Saturday Night's Main Event |
| 25 | Marty Jannetty | 1 | May 17, 1993 | 20 | Raw |
| 26 | Shawn Michaels | 2 | June 6, 1993 | 113 | House show |
| — | Vacated | — | September 27, 1993 | — | — |
| 27 | Razor Ramon | 1 | September 27, 1993 | 198 | Raw |
| 28 | Diesel | 1 | April 13, 1994 | 138 | Superstars |
| 29 | Razor Ramon | 2 | August 29, 1994 | 146 | SummerSlam |
| 30 | Jeff Jarrett | 1 | January 22, 1995 | 94 | Royal Rumble |
| — | Vacated | — | April 26, 1995 | — | Action Zone |
| 31 | Jeff Jarrett | 2 | April 26, 1995 | 23 | Action Zone |
| 32 | Razor Ramon | 3 | May 19, 1995 | 2 | House show |
| 33 | Jeff Jarrett | 3 | May 21, 1995 | 63 | House show |
| 34 | Shawn Michaels | 3 | July 23, 1995 | 91 | In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks |
| 35 | Dean Douglas | 1 | October 22, 1995 | <1 | In Your House 4: Great White North |
| 36 | Razor Ramon | 4 | 91 | ||
| 37 | Goldust | 1 | January 21, 1996 | 71 | Royal Rumble |
| — | Vacated | — | April 1, 1996 | — | Raw |
| 38 | Goldust | 2 | April 1, 1996 | 83 | Raw |
| 39 | Ahmed Johnson | 1 | June 23, 1996 | 50 | King of the Ring |
| — | Vacated | — | August 12, 1996 | — | Raw |
| 40 | Marc Mero | 1 | September 23, 1996 | 28 | Raw |
| 41 | Hunter Hearst Helmsley | 1 | October 21, 1996 | 115 | Raw |
| 42 | Rocky Maivia | 1 | February 13, 1997 | 74 | Raw |
| 43 | Owen Hart | 1 | April 28, 1997 | 97 | Raw is War |
| 44 | Stone Cold Steve Austin | 1 | August 3, 1997 | 36 | SummerSlam |
| — | Vacated | — | September 8, 1997 | — | — |
| 45 | Owen Hart | 2 | October 5, 1997 | 35 | Badd Blood: In Your House |
| 46 | Stone Cold Steve Austin | 2 | November 9, 1997 | 29 | Survivor Series |
| 47 | The Rock | 2 | December 8, 1997 | 265 | Raw is War |
| 48 | Triple H | 2 | August 30, 1998 | 40 | SummerSlam |
| — | Vacated | — | October 9, 1998 | — | — |
| 49 | Ken Shamrock | 1 | October 12, 1998 | 125 | Raw is War |
| 50 | Val Venis | 1 | February 14, 1999 | 29 | In Your House: St. Valentine's Day Massacre |
| 51 | Road Dogg | 1 | March 15, 1999 | 14 | Raw is War |
| 52 | Goldust | 3 | March 29, 1999 | 14 | Raw is War |
| 53 | The Godfather | 1 | April 12, 1999 | 43 | Raw is War |
| 54 | Jeff Jarrett | 4 | May 25, 1999 | 60 | Raw is War |
| 55 | Edge | 1 | July 24, 1999 | 1 | House show |
| 56 | Jeff Jarrett | 5 | July 25, 1999 | 2 | Fully Loaded |
| 57 | D'Lo Brown | 1 | July 27, 1999 | 26 | Raw is War |
| 58 | Jeff Jarrett | 6 | August 22, 1999 | 56 | SummerSlam |
| 59 | Chyna | 1 | October 17, 1999 | 56 | No Mercy |
| 60 | Chris Jericho | 1 | December 12, 1999 | 22 | Armageddon |
| — | Vacated | — | January 3, 2000 | — | Raw is War |
| 61 | Chris Jericho | 2 | January 23, 2000 | 35 | Royal Rumble |
| 62 | Kurt Angle | 1 | February 27, 2000 | 35 | No Way Out |
| 63 | Chris Benoit | 1 | April 2, 2000 | 30 | WrestleMania 2000 |
| 64 | Chris Jericho | 3 | May 2, 2000 | 6 | SmackDown! |
| 65 | Chris Benoit | 2 | May 8, 2000 | 43 | Raw is War |
| 66 | Rikishi | 1 | June 20, 2000 | 14 | SmackDown! |
| 67 | Val Venis | 2 | July 4, 2000 | 54 | SmackDown! |
| 68 | Chyna | 2 | August 27, 2000 | 8 | SummerSlam |
| 69 | Eddie Guerrero | 1 | September 4, 2000 | 78 | Raw is War |
| 70 | Billy Gunn | 1 | November 21, 2000 | 19 | SmackDown! |
| 71 | Chris Benoit | 3 | December 10, 2000 | 42 | Armageddon |
| 72 | Chris Jericho | 4 | January 21, 2001 | 72 | Royal Rumble |
| 73 | Triple H | 3 | April 3, 2001 | 7 | SmackDown! |
| 74 | Jeff Hardy | 1 | April 10, 2001 | 6 | SmackDown! |
| 75 | Triple H | 4 | April 16, 2001 | 34 | Raw |
| 76 | Kane | 1 | May 20, 2001 | 37 | Judgment Day |
| 77 | Albert | 1 | June 26, 2001 | 27 | SmackDown! |
| 78 | Lance Storm | 1 | July 23, 2001 | 27 | Raw |
| 79 | Edge | 2 | August 19, 2001 | 35 | SummerSlam |
| 80 | Christian | 1 | September 23, 2001 | 28 | Unforgiven |
| 81 | Edge | 3 | October 21, 2001 | 15 | No Mercy |
| 82 | Test | 1 | November 5, 2001 | 13 | Raw |
| 83 | Edge | 4 | November 18, 2001 | 63 | Survivor Series |
| 84 | William Regal | 1 | January 20, 2002 | 56 | Royal Rumble |
| 85 | Rob Van Dam | 1 | March 17, 2002 | 35 | WrestleMania X8 |
| 86 | Eddie Guerrero | 2 | April 21, 2002 | 36 | Backlash |
| 87 | Rob Van Dam | 2 | May 27, 2002 | 63 | Raw |
| 88 | Chris Benoit | 4 | July 29, 2002 | 27 | Raw |
| 89 | Rob Van Dam | 3 | August 25, 2002 | 22 | SummerSlam |
| 90 | Chris Jericho | 5 | September 16, 2002 | 14 | Raw |
| 91 | Kane | 2 | September 30, 2002 | 20 | Raw |
| 92 | Triple H | 5 | October 20, 2002 | <1 | No Mercy |
| — | Unified | — | October 20, 2002 | — | No Mercy |
| 93 | Christian | 2 | May 18, 2003 | 50 | Judgment Day |
| 94 | Booker T | 1 | July 7, 2003 | 34 | Raw |
| 95 | Christian | 3 | August 10, 2003 | 50 | House show |
| 96 | Rob Van Dam | 4 | September 29, 2003 | 28 | Raw |
| 97 | Chris Jericho | 6 | October 27, 2003 | <1 | Raw |
| 98 | Rob Van Dam | 5 | 48 | ||
| 99 | Randy Orton | 1 | December 14, 2003 | 210 | Armageddon |
| 100 | Edge | 5 | July 11, 2004 | 57 | Vengeance |
| — | Vacated | — | September 6, 2004 | — | Raw |
| 101 | Chris Jericho | 7 | September 12, 2004 | 37 | Unforgiven |
| 102 | Shelton Benjamin | 1 | October 19, 2004 | 244 | Taboo Tuesday |
| 103 | Carlito | 1 | June 20, 2005 | 90 | Raw |
| 104 | Ric Flair | 1 | September 18, 2005 | 155 | Unforgiven |
| 105 | Shelton Benjamin | 2 | February 20, 2006 | 69 | Raw |
| 106 | Rob Van Dam | 6 | April 30, 2006 | 15 | Backlash |
| 107 | Shelton Benjamin | 3 | May 15, 2006 | 41 | Raw |
| 108 | Johnny Nitro | 1 | June 25, 2006 | 99 | Vengeance |
| 109 | Jeff Hardy | 2 | October 2, 2006 | 35 | Raw |
| 110 | Johnny Nitro | 2 | November 6, 2006 | 7 | Raw |
| 111 | Jeff Hardy | 3 | November 13, 2006 | 98 | Raw |
| 112 | Umaga | 1 | February 19, 2007 | 56 | Raw |
| 113 | Santino Marella | 1 | April 16, 2007 | 77 | Raw |
| 114 | Umaga | 2 | July 2, 2007 | 61 | Raw |
| 115 | Jeff Hardy | 4 | September 1, 2007 | 191 | Raw |
| 116 | Chris Jericho | 8 | March 10, 2008 | 111 | Raw |
| 117 | Kofi Kingston | 1 | June 29, 2008 | 49 | Night of Champions |
| 118 | Santino Marella | 2 | August 17, 2008 | 85 | SummerSlam |
| 119 | William Regal | 2 | November 10, 2008 | 70 | Raw |
| 120 | CM Punk | 1 | January 19, 2009 | 49 | Raw |
| 121 | John "Bradshaw" Layfield | 1 | March 9, 2009 | 27 | Raw |
| 122 | Rey Mysterio | 1 | April 5, 2009 | 63 | WrestleMania XXV |
| 123 | Chris Jericho | 9 | June 7, 2009 | 21 | Extreme Rules |
| 124 | Rey Mysterio | 2 | June 28, 2009 | 65 | The Bash |
| 125 | John Morrison | 3 | September 1, 2009 | 103 | SmackDown |
| 126 | Drew McIntyre | 1 | December 13, 2009 | 161 | TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs |
| 127 | Kofi Kingston | 2 | May 23, 2010 | 66 | Over the Limit |
| 128 | Dolph Ziggler | 1 | July 28, 2010 | 160 | SmackDown |
| 129 | Kofi Kingston | 3 | January 4, 2011 | 77 | SmackDown |
| 130 | Wade Barrett | 1 | March 22, 2011 | 89 | SmackDown |
| 131 | Ezekiel Jackson | 1 | June 19, 2011 | 51 | Capitol Punishment |
| 132 | Cody Rhodes | 1 | August 9, 2011 | 236 | SmackDown |
| 133 | Big Show | 1 | April 1, 2012 | 28 | WrestleMania XXVIII |
| 134 | Cody Rhodes | 2 | April 29, 2012 | 21 | Extreme Rules |
| 135 | Christian | 4 | May 20, 2012 | 64 | Over the Limit |
| 136 | The Miz | 1 | July 23, 2012 | 85 | Raw 1000 |
| 137 | Kofi Kingston | 4 | October 16, 2012 | 74 | Main Event |
| 138 | Wade Barrett | 2 | December 29, 2012 | 99 | Raw |
| 139 | The Miz | 2 | April 7, 2013 | 1 | WrestleMania 29 |
| 140 | Wade Barrett | 3 | April 8, 2013 | 69 | Raw |
| 141 | Fandango | 1 | June 16, 2013 | 155 | Payback |
| 142 | Big E Langston | 1 | November 18, 2013 | 167 | Raw |
| 143 | Bad News Barrett | 4 | May 4, 2014 | 57 | Extreme Rules |
| — | Vacated | — | June 30, 2014 | — | Raw |
| 144 | The Miz | 3 | July 20, 2014 | 28 | Battleground |
| 145 | Dolph Ziggler | 2 | August 17, 2014 | 35 | SummerSlam |
| 146 | The Miz | 4 | September 21, 2014 | 1 | Night of Champions |
| 147 | Dolph Ziggler | 3 | September 22, 2014 | 56 | Raw |
| 148 | Luke Harper | 1 | November 17, 2014 | 245 | Raw |
| 149 | Chris Jericho | 10 | July 19, 2015 | 64 | Battleground |
| 150 | Finn Bálor | 1 | September 20, 2015 | 84 | Night of Champions |
| 151 | Dean Ambrose | 1 | December 13, 2015 | 64 | TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs |
| 152 | Finn Bálor | 2 | February 15, 2016 | 48 | Raw |
| 153 | Fandango | 2 | April 3, 2016 | 1 | WrestleMania 32 |
| 154 | The Miz | 5 | April 4, 2016 | 188 | Raw |
| 155 | Dolph Ziggler | 4 | October 9, 2016 | 37 | No Mercy |
| 156 | The Miz | 6 | November 15, 2016 | 49 | SmackDown Live |
| 157 | Dean Ambrose | 2 | January 3, 2017 | 152 | SmackDown Live |
| 158 | The Miz | 7 | June 4, 2017 | 169 | Extreme Rules |
| 159 | Roman Reigns | 1 | November 20, 2017 | 63 | Raw |
| 160 | The Miz | 8 | January 22, 2018 | 76 | Raw 25 Years |
| 161 | Seth Rollins | 1 | April 8, 2018 | 71 | WrestleMania 34 |
| 162 | Finn Bálor | 3 | June 18, 2018 | 25+ | Raw |
Combined reigns[]
Inaugural champion Pat Patterson
Record ten-time champion Chris Jericho
The Honky Tonk Man, whose 454-day reign is the longest in history
As of April 19, 2024.
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pedro Morales | 2 | 619 |
| 2 | The Miz | 8 | 597 |
| 3 | Don Muraco | 2 | 541 |
| 4 | The Honky Tonk Man | 1 | 454 |
| 5 | Tito Santana | 2 | 443 |
| 6 | Razor Ramon | 4 | 437 |
| 7 | The Ultimate Warrior | 2 | 432 |
| 8 | Randy Savage | 1 | 414 |
| 9 | Shawn Michaels | 3 | 406 |
| Mr. Perfect | 2 | 406 | |
| 11 | Chris Jericho | 10 | 382 |
| 12 | Shelton Benjamin | 3 | 354 |
| 13 | Rocky Maivia/The Rock | 2 | 339 |
| 14 | Jeff Hardy | 4 | 330 |
| 15 | Wade Barrett/Bad News Barrett | 4 | 314 |
| 16 | Jeff Jarrett | 6 | 298 |
| 17 | Bret Hart | 2 | 290 |
| 18 | Dolph Ziggler | 4 | 288 |
| 19 | Greg Valentine | 1 | 285 |
| 20 | Kofi Kingston | 4 | 266 |
| 21 | Cody Rhodes | 2 | 257 |
| 22 | Luke Harper | 1 | 245 |
| 23 | Pat Patterson | 1 | 233 |
| 24 | Ken Patera | 1 | 231 |
| 25 | Dean Ambrose | 2 | 216 |
| 26 | Rob Van Dam | 6 | 211 |
| 27 | Randy Orton | 1 | 210 |
| 28 | Johnny Nitro/John Morrison | 3 | 209 |
| 29 | Hunter Hearst Helmsley/Triple H | 5 | 196 |
| 30 | Christian | 4 | 192 |
| 31 | Edge | 5 | 171 |
| 32 | Goldust | 3 | 168 |
| 33 | Big E Langston | 1 | 167 |
| 34 | Santino Marella | 2 | 162 |
| 35 | Drew McIntyre | 1 | 161 |
| 36 | Finn Bálor † | 3 | 157+ |
| 37 | Fandango | 2 | 156 |
| 38 | Ric Flair | 1 | 155 |
| 39 | Rick Rude | 1 | 148 |
| 40 | Chris Benoit | 4 | 142 |
| 41 | Diesel | 1 | 138 |
| 42 | Owen Hart | 2 | 132 |
| 43 | Rey Mysterio | 2 | 128 |
| 44 | William Regal | 2 | 126 |
| 45 | Ken Shamrock | 1 | 125 |
| 46 | Umaga | 2 | 117 |
| 47 | Eddie Guerrero | 2 | 114 |
| 48 | Carlito | 1 | 90 |
| 49 | The Texas Tornado | 1 | 84 |
| 50 | Val Venis | 2 | 83 |
| 51 | Roddy Piper | 1 | 77 |
| 52 | Seth Rollins | 1 | 71 |
| 53 | Stone Cold Steve Austin | 2 | 65 |
| Ricky Steamboat | 1 | 65 | |
| 55 | Chyna | 2 | 64 |
| 56 | Roman Reigns | 1 | 63 |
| 57 | The British Bulldog | 1 | 59 |
| 58 | Kane | 2 | 57 |
| 59 | Ezekiel Jackson | 1 | 51 |
| 60 | Ahmed Johnson | 1 | 50 |
| 61 | CM Punk | 1 | 49 |
| 62 | The Godfather | 1 | 43 |
| 63 | Kurt Angle | 1 | 35 |
| 64 | Booker T | 1 | 34 |
| 65 | Big Show | 1 | 28 |
| Marc Mero | 1 | 28 | |
| 67 | Albert | 1 | 27 |
| John "Bradshaw" Layfield | 1 | 27 | |
| Lance Storm | 1 | 27 | |
| 70 | D'Lo Brown | 1 | 26 |
| 71 | Marty Jannetty | 1 | 20 |
| 72 | Billy Gunn | 1 | 19 |
| 73 | Rikishi | 1 | 14 |
| Road Dogg | 1 | 14 | |
| 75 | Test | 1 | 13 |
| 76 | The Mountie | 1 | 2 |
| 77 | Dean Douglas | 1 | <1 |