The next installment of the history of the WWE Intercontinental Championship continues with the reign of the late Samoan Bulldozer, Umaga, a man who proved to be as fierce in the ring as he was an Intercontinental Champion.
Santino Marella had just pulled off the “Milan Miracle” and won the IC Title in front of his hometown people.
His first reign with the Intercontinental Championship lasted 77 days before the monster he won it from came knocking once again.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Pt 5 –
Umaga Reigns Again
Umaga showed up in Dallas, Texas, on July 2, 2007, with one goal in mind: winning back the Intercontinental Championship.
The Samoan Bulldozer did just that, squashing Santino Marella to become a two-time Intercontinental Champion.
His second reign with the title lasted longer than his first at 62 days.
This would be the final time he held the championship before tragically passing away in 2009.
Enigmatic Reign
When Jeff Hardy defeated Umaga to win his fourth Intercontinental Championship, it started off Hardy’s most impressive reign with the gold.
In total during his fourth time as IC Champion, Jeff Hardy held the belt for 190 days.
He wouldn’t hold the Intercontinental Championship again until 2020.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Pt 5 –
He’s Back – Chris Jericho is the WWE Intercontinental Champion AGAIN
Four years after his last reign as Intercontinental Champion, Chris Jericho returned to the IC Title scene in March of 2008.
He defeated Jeff Hardy on an episode of Raw to become an eight-time Intercontinental Champion.
This reign would be one of Jericho’s finest, holding the gold for 111 days.
Despite having a legend holding the gold once more, this was still in the days of the IC Title being put on the back burner.
Kingston Arrives
Kof Kingston picked up his very first reign with the Intercontinental Championship when he defeated Chris Jericho at Night of Champions 2008.
His first of four eventual reigns lasted just under 50 days before a unique stipulation caused him to lose the gold.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Pt 5 –
Marella Magic Part 2
Teaming with his odd couple love interest “The Glamazon” Beth Phoenix, Marella earned his second Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam 2008.
The pair competed in a mixed tag match against Kofi Kingston and WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James.
If Kingston or James were to lose, their respective championships would change hands, which is exactly what happened.
Marella’s second reign was similar to his first, it lasted 85 days, had lots of comedic moments, with no truly memorable matches to remember.
A Regal Champion
![WWE Intercontinental Champion William Regal and Layla [2008] | William regal, Pro wrestling, Wrestling](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/71/fa/97/71fa97310c71f57d4a871564bb202f97.jpg)
That night, the normally booed out of the building William Regal, received a hero’s welcome before he became Intercontinental Champion for the second time.
Regal loved nothing more than ending the reign of a guy he considered a comedic nitwit to become IC Champion once again.
This reign for Regal lasted 70 days.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Pt 5 –
Intercontinental Straight Edge
The brief feud between William Regal and CM Punk for the Intercontinental Championship is a highly underrated feud.
Polar opposite personalities, these two meshed well together in pursuit of proving who the better man is, was highly entertaining television.
On January 19, 2009, Raw took place in Rosemont, Illinois, and the Chicago Punk became Intercontinental Champion for the first time.
Punk defeated Regal in a No Disqualification match to win the gold and held the strap for 49 days.
JBL’s Last Run
The transformation of Bradshaw into JBL is one of WWE’s most extreme to ever take place.
During his time as JBL, the brash Texan held the WWE and United States Championships.
It was only fitting that in the final days of his career, he held the Intercontinental Title.
After defeating CM Punk to win the title for the first and only time, JBL held the championship for 27 days before losing it in the grandest stage of them all.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Pt 5 –
Mysterio’s Mania Moment
At WrestleMania 25 JBL was scheduled to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Rey Mysterio.
The fans were ready for an all-time classic between the two polar opposites, but what they got was a shocking turn of events.
Mysterio defeated JBL in 21 seconds to win his very first Intercontinental Championship.
Making this match even more historic is the fact that this was the lone Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania between 2002 to 2012.
The reign of Mysterio lasted 63 days until an old foe of his came calling.
Nine For The Record
The rivalry between Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho crossed multiple promotions, and wars were fought for multiple titles.
That rivalry was rekindled in June of 2009 when the two met in a No Holds Barred Match at Extreme Rules.
Throughout the match, Jericho attempted to remove Mysterio’s mask, and when he finally succeeded in doing so, he was able to pull off a sudden victory quick cover to get the win.
The mask would play a factor in their next title for the championship as well.
This reign, the ninth of Jericho’s career, lasted 21 days.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Pt 5 –
Save The Mask Win The Title
The intense feud between Jericho and Mysterio over the Intercontinental Championship continued into The Bash.
Only this time Rey Mysterio had to put his mask on the line in a “Mask vs Title” Match.
This time around Mysterio was prepared as when Jericho removed his mask once again, this time there was a replacement mask underneath it.
The confusion of the situation led to Mysterio getting the final advantage over his long time foe to become a two-time Intercontinental Champion.
A reign that lasted 68 days.
Shaman of Sexy Intercontinental Champion
John Morrison returned to the Intercontinental Title scene in 2009 when he defeated Rey Mysterio on an episode of Smackdown.
This was Morrison’s third and final reign with the title as well as his longest, lasting 103 days.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Pt 5 –
Mighty McIntyre
Surprising as it seems, Drew McIntyre has held the Intercontinental Championship just one time.
His one and only reign began at TLC 2009 when he defeated John Morrison.
McIntyre’s reign was briefly interrupted by Teddy Long, who suspended him from Smackdown, only for Vince McMahon to overrule the decision.
McIntyre’s lone reign was an impressive one as he held the championship for 161 days.
Kingston & Ziggler Trade The Gold
Kofi Kingston earned his second reign with the Intercontinental Championship by defeating Drew McIntyre at Over the Limit.
This reign lasted 66 days before he lost the title to Dolph Ziggler.
For his first reign, Ziggler held onto the belt for 154 days before dropping it back to Kingston on the January 4 episode of Smackdown.
This time around, Kingston held the gold for 77 days.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Pt 5 –
Barrett Breaks Through
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The third reign of Kofi Kingston with the Intercontinental Championship came to abrupt end at the hands of Wade Barrett.
For 89 days Barrett held the gold.
This would be the first of five reigns for Barrett.
Precursor To Greatness
Wade Barrett saw his first reign with the Intercontinental Championship come to an end at the hands of his former CORRE brethren, Ezekiel Jackson.
The victory for Jackson came at Capitol Punishment 2011 and he held the title for 54 days.
Little did fans know they were about to witness greatness with the Intercontinental Championship.
