In the history of the WWE Intercontinental Championship part two, the discussion turns to what happened after stripping Shawn Michaels of the title, the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
The company held a battle royal to crown a new Intercontinental Champion. Razor Ramon and Rick Martel were the final two and faced off the following week. Ramon defeated Martel in his reign.
Shortly after, HBK returned, staking his claim to the WWE Intercontinental Championship, even carrying his own version.
Razor and Michaels would feud until Wrestlemania X, which culminated in a ladder match in which Ramon became the “undisputed” champion by retrieving both titles.
It was the first WWF match ranked 5 Stars by Dave Meltzer and winning match of the year and ranking No.5 on the 24 greatest matches in Wrestlemania history. Here is the History of the WWE Intercontinental Championship Part Two.
Razor continued his feud with Michaels and his bodyguard, Diesel. He lost the title to the latter after interference by the former.
At SummerSlam, Ramon won back the title after Michaels inadvertently hit Diesel with Sweet Chin Music.
History of the WWE Intercontinental Championship Part Two – Jeff Jarrett
At Royal Rumble, Jeff Jarrett would beat Ramon in a controversial fashion after he demanded the match restarted after he won by count-out.
The title was temporarily upheld after a controversial end to defense against Bob Holly. Jarrett won the title in a rematch later that night for his second reign.
Razor Ramon beat Jarrett in a ladder matchmaking him the first 3x Intercontinental Champion in history before losing it back to him just two days later for Jarrett’s third reign.
Shawn Michaels later defeated Double J for his third reign but lost the title by forfeit to Dean Douglas after being attacked outside of a nightclub in Syracuse, NY. Douglas was forced to immediately defend the title.
Razor Ramon defeated Douglas ending his reign about 20 minutes, making Ramon the first 4 time champion, a record that stood for 5 years.
Title Upheld
After his debut, Goldust stalked Razor Ramon until their match at Royal Rumble, where he defeated Ramon due to interference by 1-2-3 Kid.
The title was temporarily upheld after a match with Savio Vega ended in a no contest. Goldust regained the title in a rematch later that night, making him a two-time champion.
At King of Ring, Ahmed Johnson won and beat Goldust for the WWE Intercontinental Championship to become the first African American to hold the title.
This propelled Johnson up the card, and he started to tag with HBK before being attacked by Farooq in an 11-man battle royal that Johnson won, becoming No.1 for the WWF Championship the day after SummerSlam. This injury forced him to relinquish the title.
After the injury to Johnson, the WWF held a tournament to crown a new IC Champion. Marc Mero defeated Farooq in the finals to become champion.
Mero feuded with newcomer Hunter Hurst Helmsley eventually losing the title to him.
“The Blue Chipper” Rocky Maivia
Rocky Maivia made his debut and was quickly dubbed “The Blue Chipper” by JR. His ascent to the top started with his defeat of Helmsley for the Intercontinental Title. The crowd quickly turned on Rocky soon after he won the title.
Rocky lost the title to Owen Hart, injuring his knee in the process. When he returned, he joined the Farooq in the Nation of Domination, turning heel in the process.
Rocky became a two-time champion before riding his rocket to the top, becoming the “Most Electrifying Man in Sports(and) Entertainment.”
After beating Rocky Maivia, Owen Hart lost the title to a red hot Steve Austin who had recently won the King of the Ring tournament after dubbing himself “Stone Cold.”
After the tournament, he cut one of the most memorable promos of all time, declaring “Austin 3:16 means I just whipped your a**,” propelling Austin to the very top of the wrestling industry as one of the faces of the “Attitude Era” becoming a multiple-time World Champion.
History of the WWE Intercontinental Title Part Two –
Stone Cold
But first…Unfortunately, Austin suffered a neck injury when Owen Hart delivered a piledriver causing him to vacate the title.
Owen Hart regained the title by beating Faarooq in the tournament final after Austin interfered, hitting Faarooq with a steel chair.
Stone Cold interfered twice more to help keep the title on Hart. Austin then defeated Hart at Survivor Series and won his second Intercontinental Championship.
Austin then set his sights on the former Rocky Maivia, now The Rock, and his Nation of Domination.
The Rock stole the IC Title keeping possession until Austin defeated him at In Your House to retain the title.
Mr. McMahon forced Austin to defend his title the next night on Raw against The Rock. Instead, Stone Cold defiantly forfeited the title before tossing the belt into the Piscataqua River.
Triple H was a tear, winning the King of the Ring tournament and joining Shawn Michaels to form the stable D-X. This led to a feud with The Nation of Domination and culminated in Triple H beating The Rock in a ladder match for the title at SummerSlam. Triple H was forced to vacate due to injury within three months.
The turn-style of champions
Ken Shamrock won the vacated title in a tournament final against X-Pac joining the Corporation stable and turning heel in the process. Val Venis beat Shamrock for the title with help from special guest referee Billy Gunn.
Venis then lost the title to former Tag Team Champion Road Dogg in his first and only reign. Road Dogg lost the title to the returning Goldust.
Goldust then lost the title to the very popular, newly rebranded Godfather after the dissolution of the Nation of Domination as the Blue Blazer. His scheduled match with Owen Hart was canceled after his fatal accident at the PPV.
Instead, one week later, Jeff Jarrett beat The Godfather for the title tying Razor Ramon’s four title reigns.
One month later, the future WWE Hall of Famer Edge got his first taste of singles gold when he beat Double J for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Jarrett won back the title the next night at Fully Loaded, passing Razor Ramon with 5 reigns as champion.
The following night on Raw, D-Lo Brown, reigning European Champion, defeated Jarrett in a title for the title match to become the first “Euro-Continental” Champion.
At SummerSlam, Jeff Jarrett beat D-Lo and became a 6x Intercontinental Champion and second-ever Euro-Continental Champion.
History of the WWE Intercontinental Championship (Pt.1)
