The WWE Intercontinental Championship is one of the most prestigious championships in WWE history. Pat Patterson was the inaugural Intercontinental Champion, and it has traditionally been seen as a stepping stone to becoming WWE Champion. The likes of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and Randy Orton did an exceptional job as Intercontinental Champions and it propelled them to become multiple-time WWE Champions.
Over the years, the Intercontinental Championship has had the reputation of being the workhorse title. For the past few years, it has been an afterthought but with Triple H at the helm, he's making the championship meaningful again. Nevertheless, the biggest wrestlers to hold the Intercontinental Championship had contrasting runs with the title.
10 Ahmed Johnson - 305 Lbs
Ahmed Johnson could be incredibly hard to work with behind the scenes, which is why his stint in WWE didn't last as long as it should have. Nevertheless, the Pearl River Powerhouse was a babyface, and fans were huge fans of his work.
Johnson entered a feud with Goldust, and he challenged the Bizarre One for the Intercontinental Championship at King of the Ring 1996. Johnson defeated Goldust for the title, and he made history as the first black man to win the Intercontinental Championship.
9 Ezekiel Jackson - 309 Lbs
Ezekiel Jackson was first introduced to the WWE Universe as the bodyguard of "The" Brian Kendrick. Shortly, Jackson became the final wrestler to hold the ECW Championship in February 2010 after he beat two-time champion Christian for the title.
A year later, Jackson was a member of the Corre but he butted heads with leader Wade Barrett. That led to Jackson being booted out of the Corre. Nonetheless, he demolished Barrett for the Intercontinental Championship at Capitol Punishment 2011. His Intercontinental Title run was underwhelming, and he dropped the title to Cody Rhodes, a couple of months later.
8 Diesel - 317 Lbs
Shawn Michaels introduced Diesel as his bodyguard in the summer of 1993, but a year later, Diesel began to make the locker room take notice. After an outstanding performance in the 1994 Royal Rumble match, Diesel defeated Razor Ramon in spring for the Intercontinental Championship which was his first piece of silverware in WWE.
Diesel had a good run as Intercontinental Champion, and he was already in contention for the WWE Championship as he challenged Bret Hart for the title at King of the Ring. He won the match by disqualification, but not the WWE Championship. Nevertheless, Diesel became a double champion as he won the WWE World Tag Team Championship with Shawn Michaels. Although, it was only for 24 hours as Diesel dropped Intercontinental Title back to Ramon at SummerSlam.
7 The Godfather - 320 Lbs
It came as a surprise when The Godfather challenged Goldust for the Intercontinental Championship on the April 12, 1999 taping of Raw. Goldust was originally scheduled to defend the title against Big Boss Man, but Godfather made Boss Man an offer that he couldn't refuse. Godfather lets Boss Man spend the night with his ladies of the night.
Godfather was smart, and it paid off as he beat Goldust for his only singles championship in WWE. Boss Man would have felt aggrieved as the ladies of the night returned to celebrate with the future WWE Hall of Famer. Godfather's Intercontinental Championship reign only lasted one month as Jeff Jarrett defeated him for the title.
6 Kane - 326 Lbs
"The Big Red Machine" Kane won several championships in 2001, and the Intercontinental Championship was another title he eyed up. At Judgment Day, Kane challenged Triple H for the gold in a Chain match. There was a miscommunication between Triple H and Steve Austin as Austin accidentally hit the Game with the steel chair.
Kane took advantage and he won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time. With the victory, Kane became the third Grand Slam Champion in WWE history and the first one with the Hardcore Championship as the tertiary title instead of the European Championship. Kane won the Intercontinental Championship for a second time in 2002 by beating Chris Jericho, but Triple H got his revenge in a title unification match at No Mercy.
5 Albert - 347 Lbs
There were several surprising Intercontinental Champions in the Attitude Era and Albert was one of them. Albert was a member of X-Factor alongside X-Pac and Justin Credible. However, on the June 28, 2001, taping of SmackDown, Albert defeated Kane for the Intercontinental Championship.
Albert had some help from Diamond Dallas Page who attacked Kane since DDP was feuding with Kane's brother The Undertaker. Nevertheless, Albert's title run was forgettable as Lance Storm dethroned him on an episode of Raw a month later.
4 Umaga - 350 Lbs
Umaga debuted on the Raw after WrestleMania 22, and he was unbeaten until he lost a WWE Championship match to John Cena at New Year's Revolution 2007. Nevertheless, the Samoan Bulldozer recovered from his losses to Cena by defeating Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship a month later on Raw.
The Samoan Bulldozer had some momentum going into his Battle of the Billionaires clash with Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 23. Umaga never won a World Championship in WWE but he had two runs as Intercontinental Champion as he traded the gold with Santino Marella in the spring and summer months of 2007.
3 Braun Strowman - 385 Lbs
Braun Strowman had been knocking on the door to win the Universal Championship in 2017 and 2018 but he couldn't get past Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns respectively. However, it wasn't until a couple of months before the COVID-19 pandemic began that the Monster Among Men beat Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship, which was his first singles championship in WWE.
Strowman's Intercontinental Championship reign was poor as he defended the title once. He was up against former champion Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn, and Cesaro in a handicap match at Elimination Chamber 2020. Strowman lost the title to Zayn, but bigger things were on the horizon as he beat Goldberg for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36.
2 Rikishi - 423 Lbs
Umaga wasn't the only member of the Anoa'i Family to win the Intercontinental Championship, his older brother Rikishi won the gold before him back in June 2000. Rikishi was one of the most popular babyfaces in the Attitude Era as he was a member of Too Cool.
That was Rikishi's only singles championship in WWE, and he had a physical feud with Val Venis. Val defeated Rikishi for the title on the July 6, 2000 taping of SmackDown. Rikishi attempted to regain the gold in a steel cage match at Fully Loaded which was infamous for Rikishi's splash off the top of the cage. All thanks to outside interference from Tazz, Val retained the Intercontinental Championship.
1 Big Show - 441 Lbs
The Intercontinental Championship was the only championship missing from the World Largest Athlete's resume. The six-time World Champion had a remarkable career, but he needed the Intercontinental Championship to become a Grand Slam Champion.
Show was mocked by Cody Rhodes as Show's resume at WrestleMania was poor. Nevertheless, Show finally had his WrestleMania moment as he demolished Rhodes to secure the elusive Intercontinental Championship to complete the set at WrestleMania 28.