Three-time and current champion Finn Bálor
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the Raw brand. Along with the United States Championship on the SmackDown brand, it is one of the two secondary titles of the promotion. The current champion is Finn Bálor, who is in his third reign.
The championship was established on April 9, 2010, and Dolph Ziggler was the inaugural champion after last eliminating John Morrison in a 20-man battle royal. It has been called a "stepping stone" to the WWE Championship.
The championship was originally exclusive to the SmackDown brand until early 2016 when all championships would be declared as dual-branded, ending the initial brand extension. As a result of the 2020 draft, the Intercontinental Championship became exclusive to the Raw brand.
The inaugural champion was Dolph Ziggler. Edge's 4-day reign is the shortest in the title's history, while Baron Corbin has the longest single reign at 370 days. Chris Jericho holds the most reigns with 8, and has the longest combined reign at 490 days.
Finn Bálor is the current champion in his third reign. He won the title by defeating former champion Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania XI on April 4, 2021.
Title history
Edit
Reigns Edit
| No. | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dolph Ziggler | 1 | April 9, 2010 | 16 | SmackDown |
| 2 | John Morrison | 1 | April 25, 2010 | 84 | Extreme Rules |
| 3 | Dolph Ziggler | 2 | July 18, 2010 | 63 | Money in the Bank |
| 4 | John Morrison | 2 | September 19, 2010 | 25 | Night of Champions |
| 5 | Kofi Kingston | 1 | October 14, 2010 | 38 | SmackDown |
| 6 | John Morrison | 3 | November 21, 2010 | 70 | Survivor Series |
| 7 | Christian | 1 | January 30, 2011 | 63 | Royal Rumble |
| 8 | Chris Jericho | 1 | April 3, 2011 | 77 | WrestleMania |
| 9 | Christian | 2 | June 19, 2011 | 28 | Capitol Punishment |
| 10 | Chris Jericho | 2 | July 17, 2011 | 126 | Money in the Bank |
| 11 | Kofi Kingston | 2 | November 20, 2011 | 91 | Survivor Series |
| 12 | Dolph Ziggler | 3 | February 19, 2012 | 42 | Elimination Chamber |
| 13 | Cody Rhodes | 1 | April 1, 2012 | 28 | WrestleMania II |
| 14 | Wade Barrett | 1 | April 29, 2012 | 49 | Extreme Rules |
| 15 | Dolph Ziggler | 4 | June 17, 2012 | 63 | No Way Out |
| 16 | Cody Rhodes | 2 | August 19, 2012 | 119 | SummerSlam |
| 17 | Chris Jericho | 3 | December 16, 2012 | 63 | TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs |
| 18 | Edge | 1 | February 17, 2013 | 49 | Elimination Chamber |
| 19 | Chris Jericho | 4 | April 7, 2013 | 70 | WrestleMania III |
| 20 | Edge | 2 | June 16, 2013 | 25 | Payback |
| 21 | Christian | 3 | July 11, 2013 | 38 | SmackDown |
| 22 | Chris Jericho | 5 | August 18, 2013 | 49 | SummerSlam |
| 23 | Christian | 4 | October 6, 2013 | 49 | Battleground |
| 24 | Chris Jericho | 6 | November 24, 2013 | 21 | Survivor Series |
| 25 | Edge | 3 | December 15, 2013 | 4 | TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs |
| 26 | Chris Jericho | 7 | December 19, 2013 | 21 | SmackDown |
| 27 | Wade Barrett | 2 | January 9, 2014 | 45 | SmackDown |
| 28 | Big E | 1 | February 23, 2014 | 42 | Elimination Chamber |
| 29 | Ted DiBiase | 1 | April 6, 2014 | 105 | WrestleMania IV |
| 30 | Cody Rhodes | 3 | July 20, 2014 | 126 | Battleground |
| 31 | Wade Barrett | 3 | November 23, 2014 | 137 | Survivor Series |
| 32 | Luke Harper | 1 | April 9, 2015 | 108 | SmackDown |
| 33 | Chris Jericho | 8 | July 26, 2015 | 63 | Battleground |
| 34 | Seth Rollins | 1 | September 27, 2015 | 301 | Night of Champions |
| 35 | Finn Bálor | 1 | July 24, 2016 | 217 | Battleground |
| 36 | Fandango | 1 | February 26, 2017 | 64 | Fastlane |
| 37 | Dean Ambrose | 1 | April 30, 2017 | 57 | Extreme Rules |
| 38 | Fandango | 2 | June 25, 2017 | 36 | Money in the Bank |
| 39 | Dean Ambrose | 2 | July 30, 2017 | 22 | Battleground |
| 40 | Fandango | 3 | August 20, 2017 | 36 | SummerSlam |
| 41 | Dean Ambrose | 3 | September 24, 2017 | 64 | Night of Champions |
| 42 | Christian | 5 | November 26, 2017 | 36 | Survivor Series |
| 43 | Dean Ambrose | 4 | December 31, 2017 | 57 | TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs |
| 44 | Roman Reigns | 1 | February 25, 2018 | 64 | Fastlane |
| 45 | Luke Harper | 2 | April 29, 2018 | 57 | Extreme Rules |
| 46 | Roman Reigns | 2 | June 24, 2018 | 127 | Money in the Bank |
| 47 | Baron Corbin | 1 | October 28, 2018 | 92 | Hell in a Cell |
| 48 | Hideo Itami | 1 | January 27, 2019 | 64 | Royal Rumble |
| 49 | Baron Corbin | 2 | March 31, 2019 | 370 | WrestleMania IX |
| 50 | Finn Bálor | 2 | April 5, 2020 | 175 | WrestleMania X |
| 51 | Elias | 1 | September 27, 2020 | 175 | Clash of Champions |
| 52 | Bray Wyatt | 1 | March 21, 2021 | 14 | Fastlane |
| 53 | Finn Bálor | 3 | April 4, 2021 | 1+ | WrestleMania XI |
List of combined reignsEdit
Inaugural champion Dolph Ziggler
Record eight-time champion Chris Jericho
Baron Corbin is the longest reigning champion in history, with a record of 370 days
| † | Indicates the current champion |
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Jericho | 8 | 490 |
| 2 | Baron Corbin | 2 | 462 |
| 3 | Finn Bálor † | 3 | 392+ |
| 4 | Seth Rollins | 1 | 301 |
| 5 | Cody Rhodes | 3 | 273 |
| 6 | Wade Barrett | 3 | 231 |
| 7 | Christian | 5 | 214 |
| 8 | Dean Ambrose | 4 | 200 |
| 9 | Roman Reigns | 2 | 191 |
| 10 | Dolph Ziggler | 4 | 184 |
| 11 | John Morrison | 3 | 179 |
| 12 | Elias | 1 | 175 |
| 13 | Luke Harper | 2 | 165 |
| 14 | Fandango | 3 | 136 |
| 15 | Kofi Kingston | 2 | 129 |
| 16 | Ted DiBiase | 1 | 105 |
| 17 | Edge | 3 | 78 |
| 18 | Hideo Itami | 1 | 64 |
| 19 | Big E | 1 | 42 |
| 20 | Bray Wyatt | 1 | 14 |
