The Intercontinental Championship is one of the most prestigious titles in WWE history. With over four decades as a part of the company, the championship has solidified the careers of numerous superstars. Many have went on to win world championships, but who has won the most?

Being one of the secondary championships in the company, the Intercontinental Championship offered many opportunities to the superstars in the mid-card. The title helped these superstars to climb up the ladder to become potential main event performers, and many wrestlers went on to become world champions after holding the Intercontinental Title.

RELATED: The 10 Longest Intercontinental Title Reigns Of The 2000s, Ranked

Without further ado, let's take a look at 10 former Intercontinental champions with the most world title reigns in their careers.

10 The Big Show - 7 World Title Reigns

Despite having multiple reigns with the world titles, the Intercontinental Title evaded the Big Show throughout much of his career. However, he would finally get his hands on the title at WrestleMania 28 by defeating Cody Rhodes.

The Big Show was already a six-time World Champion when he won the Intercontinental Championship and added up one more when he won the World Heavyweight Championship from Sheamus in 2012.

The giant hasn't won any title since then and has transitioned to being a part-time talent, making occasional appearances whenever he's needed.

9 CM Punk - 7 World Title Reigns

CM Punk is a former Intercontinental Champion while also having seven world title reigns across different promotions.

Punk won his first Intercontinental Title from William Regal on the January 19, 2009, episode of Raw. He held the title for 49 days before dropping it to John Bradshaw Layfield.

Punk is also a former 1-time ROH World Champion, a 3-time World Heavyweight Champion, a 1-time ECW World Champion, and a 2-time WWE Champion.

Despite making a return to pro-wrestling on FOX's WWE Backstage, Punk is yet to return to in-ring action. If he does so, the numbers would certainly go up.

8 Bret Hart - 7 World Title Reigns

Bret "The Hitman" Hart lived up to his moniker as "The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be" throughout his illustrious pro-wrestling career. He won his first Intercontinental Championship at the 1991 SummerSlam PPV by defeating Mr. Perfect.

His first title reign lasted for 144 days, and his second lasted 146 days. The two IC title reigns elevated Hart to main event status, and he won his first WWE Championship as soon as his second IC title reign ended.

Hart ended his career as a 7-time world champion, having won the WWE Championship five times and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship two times.

7 Chris Jericho - 7 World Title Reigns

Chris Jericho holds the record for the most Intercontinental Championship reigns in WWE history with nine reigns to his name. Chris Jericho won his first IC title at the 1999 Armageddon PPV by defeating Chyna in an inter-gender match.

RELATED: The 10 Worst WWE Intercontinental Champions Of The 1990s

He remained in the mid-card title picture until rising into the main event scenes in 2001 when he won his first world championship. He first tasted world title gold by winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at No Mercy 2001. He then went on to become the first Undisputed WWE Champion and continued the momentum to add up a total seven world title reigns to his name including his recent run as the AEW Champion.

6 The Rock - 10 World Title Reigns

The Rock is one of the most decorated superstars in WWE history with 10 world title reigns throughout his career inside the squared circle. Apart from the 10 world titles, he is also a former two-time Intercontinental Champion.

He won his first Intercontinental Championship under his Rocky Maivia gimmick by defeating Hunter Hearst Helmsley. He had a decent reign with the title until the fans started to reject his character. The sudden change led to him dropping the title to Owen Hart on the April 28, 1997, episode of Raw.

However, he regained all the momentum by turning heel and rebranding himself as The Rock and got the Intercontinental Championship back when Stone Cold Steve Austin forfeited the title to him on the December 8, 1997, episode of Raw.

5 Edge - 11 World Title Reigns

Edge Intercontinental Champion

The Rated R Superstar shocked the world when he returned to in-ring competition at this year's Royal Rumble after his retirement in 2011. He looked like he never missed a single day even after nine years out of action, and rightly so, as he has made quite the impact during his time back in between the ropes.

RELATED: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Intercontinental Championship

Edge won the Intercontinental Title for the first time from Jeff Jarrett on a house show in 1999 but lost it back to him the very next day at the Fully Loaded PPV. But he went on to capture the championship four more times and also went on to become an 11-time World Champion until his first retirement in 2011.

4 Kurt Angle - 13 World Title Reigns

Be it the Olympics or professional wrestling, Kurt Angle has won gold in every place he stepped foot on. He captured his first and only Intercontinental Championship from Chris Jericho on the No Way Out PPV in 2000. He was also the European Champion at the time and walked out of the PPV as a double champion.

Winning the Intercontinental Championship turned out to be quite the lucky charm for Angle as he went on to capture the WWE Championship later the same year. He has a total of 13 world title reigns throughout his pro-wrestling career, and he's the only performer to win the WWE, World Heavyweight, WCW, IWGP, and TNA World Championships.

3 Randy Orton - 13 World Title Reigns

The top three spots at the top belong to the members of Evolution, and Randy Orton takes the third place with one Intercontinental Title reign and 13 world title reigns to his name.

It was a feast to the eyes to witness a young Randy Orton walk out with his mentors Triple H and Ric Flair as a part of Evolution. Every single member of the faction became champions at the 2003 Armageddon PPV, and Randy Orton won his first and only Intercontinental Championship from Rob Van Dam in a match which also had Mick Foley as the guest referee.

The Intercontinental Title proved to be a lucky charm for Orton as he went on to become a 13-time world champion and a highly respected member of the WWE roster.

2 Triple H - 14 World Title Reigns

Triple H has gold written all over his WWE career as he has won over 24 championships throughout his time inside the squared circle. The Game has won the Intercontinental Title five times throughout his career with his first victory coming against Marc Mero on the October 26, 1996, episode of Raw.

Triple H even became a double champion in 2001 when he held both the Intercontinental and World Tag Team Championships. By the time he had his final Intercontinental title reign, he was already a 5-time WWE World Champion, and he would add nine world title reigns more to his collection, thus coming in second place on this list.

1 Ric Flair - 16 World Titles

The Intercontinental Championship was the only title that evaded Ric Flair throughout his decorated pro-wrestling career. But The Nature Boy finally got his hands on the title at the 2005 Unforgiven PPV when he defeated Carlito to become the new champion.

Flair became the oldest superstar to win the Intercontinental Championship in history at 56-years-young. The Nature Boy was already a 16-time world champion when he won the Intercontinental Title, and it remains to this day as Flair's final singles title reign in his WWE career.

NEXT: 5 IC Champions Who Helped Elevate The Gold (& 5 Who Did Nothing With It)