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WWE Intercontinental Championship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WWE Intercontinental Championship | |||||||||||||||||
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 Randy Orton with the WWE Intercontinental Championship belt |
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| Details | |||||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) |
Jeff Hardy | ||||||||||||||||
| Date won | September 2, 2007 (aired September 3, 2007) |
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| Promotion | World Wrestling Entertainment | ||||||||||||||||
| Brand | RAW | ||||||||||||||||
| Date created | September 1979 | ||||||||||||||||
| Other name(s) |
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The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment. It is the original secondary title of WWE. Currently, it is the second highest ranked championship exclusive to the RAW brand.
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The WWE Intercontinental Championship was originally known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Intercontinental Championship. Following the title's introduction in 1979, Pat Patterson became the inaugural champion on September 15 as a result of defeating Ted DiBiase to win the WWF North American Championship and claiming to have defended the title in a tournament held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to be unified with a South American Championship.[1]
In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation purchased World Championship Wrestling.[2] Following this, the "Invasion" storyline was orchestrated, in which WCW was ultimately dismantled. On the conclusion of the "Invasion" at Survivor Series 2001, the WCW United States Championship and the WWF Intercontinental Championship were unified when the WCW United States Champion, Edge, defeated the WWF Intercontinental Champion, Test.[3] As a result, the United States Championship became inactive and Edge became the new WWF Intercontinental Champion.
After the WWF/WWE name change in 2002, the championship was subsequently referred to as the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Over the next few months the Intercontinental Championship went through numerous unification matches with other WWE titles. On July 22 it was unified with the WWE European Championship in a ladder match when the Intercontinental Champion, Rob Van Dam, defeated the European Champion, Jeff Hardy.[4] Jeff Hardy was named the last European Champion.[5][6] Then on August 26 it was unified with the WWE Hardcore Championship when the Intercontinental Champion, Rob Van Dam, defeated the Hardcore Champion, Tommy Dreamer.[7] Rob Van Dam was named the last Hardcore Champion.[8] Finally, at No Mercy 2002 it was unified with the World Heavyweight Championship when the World Heavyweight Champion, Triple H, defeated the Intercontinental Champion, Kane.[9] As a result, the Intercontinental Championship became inactive and Triple H remained the World Heavyweight Champion. RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff's reasoning for the unifications was so that there would only be one true champion on the RAW brand.
The following year, the title was reactivated by RAW Co-General Manager Stone Cold Steve Austin and was recommissioned to be the secondary championship for the RAW brand. Shortly after, the WCW United States Championship was reactivated as the WWE United States Championship by SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon, thus the Intercontinental Championship became its equal counterpart for the RAW brand.
The current champion is Jeff Hardy, who is in his fourth reign. He defeated Umaga on the September 3, 2007 edition of RAW in Columbus, Ohio.[10]
- ^ Pat Patterson's first reign.
- ^ WWE Entertainment, Inc. Acquires WCW from Turner Broadcasting. WWE Corporate (2001-03-23). Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
- ^ Survivor Series 2001 results. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
- ^ WWE Raw - June 22, 2002 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
- ^ Jeff Hardy's last European title reign. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
- ^ WWE European Championship history. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
- ^ WWE Raw - August 26, 2002 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
- ^ WWE Hardcore Championship history. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
- ^ No Mercy 2002 results. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
- ^ Bryan Robinson (2007-09-03). Sweet redemption. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
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Brand Championships
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RAW: WWE • Intercontinental • World Tag Team • Women's SmackDown!: World Heavyweight • United States • Tag Team • Cruiserweight ECW: ECW |
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Developmental Championships
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Ohio Valley Wrestling: Heavyweight • Television • Southern Tag Team • Women's Florida Championship Wrestling: Southern Heavyweight |
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Other accomplishments
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Royal Rumble • Money in the Bank • King of the Ring • Diva Search |
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Championship lists
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List of current champions in WWE WWE (reigns) • Intercontinental (reigns) • World Tag Team (reigns) • Women's (reigns) World Heavyweight (reigns) • United States (reigns) • Tag Team (reigns) • Cruiserweight (reigns) ECW (reigns) |