WWE Intercontinental Champions Who Didn't Elevate The Title

The Intercontinental Championship has a really wealthy historical past in WWE, courting again to 1979 when Pat Patterson was topped because the very first titleholder. Over the a number of many years since, the belt has seen some ups and downs, however one factor is for positive and that’s the title has seen some really nice champions who’ve elevated the championship.

Nevertheless, there’s a flip facet to that. There are some Intercontinental Champions who didn’t serve to learn the title, even when they had been really proficient performers. Whether or not or not it’s as a result of wrestler themselves or the reserving by WWE, there are fairly a number of names who didn’t elevate the worth of the Intercontinental Title.

Apollo Crews’ Reign As Intercontinental Champion Was Bland

Even A New Gimmick Couldn’t Change Crews’ Fortunes

Within the lead as much as WrestleMania 37, Apollo Crews was handed a brand new gimmick which was going fairly nicely, and it led to him profitable the Intercontinental Championship. Nevertheless, WWE determined to place a lot much less consideration on him for no matter purpose.

The Intercontinental Title was then a whole afterthought, as each the title and Crews felt like they had been taking part in second fiddle to nearly all the pieces else on SmackDown on the time. Crews might need match the invoice for a workhorse champion together with his in-ring capability, however his defenses had been few and much between and he misplaced a load of non-title matches too.

Ezekiel Jackson Was Not Up To Scratch For The Intercontinental Title

Jackson Was One other Failed Large Man

After leaving The Corre faction, WWE tried to make Ezekiel Jackson the subsequent massive muscular babyface. Nevertheless, he simply didn’t join with followers and his skills throughout the board had been missing.

Jackson would possibly’ve had a superb look, however that was about it, and the Intercontinental Championship couldn’t have felt much less vital round his waist. He did completely zero to raise the title, and his quick feuds with Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes solely uncovered how a lot worse he was than his opponents.

Rikishi’s Singles Push As Intercontinental Champion Did Not Work

WWE Needed Rikishi To Be A Star

In 2000, WWE determined to push Rikishi as a solo star, and with that got here an Intercontinental Title win which didn’t elevate the title within the slightest. On the time, the belt suffered from many quick and pointless reigns which didn’t do any favors to the title, and this was a kind of quick reigns.

Regardless of WWE’s needs, Rikishi wasn’t somebody who would win the midcard title after which go on to the primary occasion to seek out much more success, as his run as a world title contender additionally ended miserably.

Curtis Axel Failed To Emulate His Father’s Success As Intercontinental Champion

Axel’s Time As Champion Was One To Neglect

WWE tried to push Curtis Axel in 2013, however his time as Intercontinental Champion ended up being a waste of time, and it paled compared to his father’s time with the gold again within the early Nineties.

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Axel performed sidekick to Paul Heyman and was a punching bag in feuds. He misplaced non-title matches, hardly had any feuds, and the Intercontinental Championship was not elevated within the slightest round his waist.

JBL’s Intercontinental Championship Win Was Mediocre

JBL Gained The Gold Late In His Profession

Regardless of his previous as a World Champion and a Corridor Of Fame profession, JBL’s Intercontinental Championship win in 2009 didn’t profit the gold within the slightest. JBL was lower than a month away from retirement, so to place the belt on him and take it off somebody a lot youthful and filled with potential like CM Punk felt like a mistake.

This run with the belt was fairly forgettable except for the second the place he misplaced the title at WrestleMania and went on to retire straight after.

Braun Strowman Did Not Match The Invoice As An Intercontinental Champion

Strowman’s Win Felt Like A Comfort

After WWE screwed up Braun Strowman’s world title pursuits time and time once more, he was strapped up with the Intercontinental Championship in what felt like a runner-up prize after being neglected as a world champion.

Strowman didn’t do something notable with the belt, his defenses weren’t of a top quality, and he ended up dropping it in a handicap match which made the title really feel unimportant too. Given the title’s repute as a workhorse championship, Strowman didn’t match as IC Champion.

Albert’s Reign Did Not Elevate The Intercontinental Championship

The Intercontinental Title Did Not Really feel Vital Round His Waist

Albert’s character was not one outstanding sufficient to earn a reign as Intercontinental Champion, even when it solely lasted for round a month.

This was the time when many wrestlers had quick reigns with the gold, so for the likes of Albert to win it ended up devaluing the championship round this time, as a number of underwhelming wrestlers acquired their fingers on the enduring title.

Ryback’s Time As Intercontinental Champion Was Pointless

Ryback’s Potential Had Diminished By This Level

On the 2015 Elimination Chamber occasion, Ryback was lastly topped with a singles title regardless of not wanting like a possible high star. He received the vacant Intercontinental Championship in a horrifically unhealthy match, and went on to have a reign that felt fairly pointless. The IC Title was feeling extremely uninteresting round this time with drained acts like The Miz and Large Present difficult Ryback.

It was a blessing when Kevin Owens dethroned Ryback after a number of months, ending what felt like a reasonably pointless reign when all was mentioned and accomplished.

Marc Mero Was A Failed Mission As Intercontinental Champion

Mero Didn’t Garner Many Reactions From WWE Followers

Getting overshadowed by Sable ended up being the nail within the coffin for Marc Mero in WWE, who felt much less and fewer like a possible star as time handed. Even getting topped as Intercontinental Champion did completely nothing for him, and in flip he did nothing for the title both.

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It ended up simply being a brief one month reign anyway, however it might have been higher for the title had this reign not even occurred. Issues drastically improved for the status of the belt when Triple H received it off him.

Shinsuke Nakamura & The Intercontinental Title Had been Cursed

Nakamura’s Reigns Had been Horrendous

Shinsuke Nakamura had two reigns as Intercontinental Champion, and each of these reigns had been fairly horrible. He would generally go months with out being on TV, his defenses got here few and much between, and regardless of a prolonged run, the belt had by no means felt much less vital in reality.

Regardless of its lineage, the IC Championship across the waist of Nakamura was a whole afterthought and its status was at arguably an all time low. Nakamura even performed second fiddle in a tag workforce with Rick Boogs throughout his time as champion.