25 best WWE Intercontinental Champions of all time

24. Rick Rude

While he’s only a one-time Intercontinental Champion, “Ravishing” Rick Rude was an extremely memorable champion. Upon his entry into WWE in 1987, Rude quickly became one of the best mid-card wrestlers in the company and had some great feuds with “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff and Jake “The Snake” Roberts before entering one of the biggest programs of his career with The Ultimate Warrior at the 1989 Royal Rumble. The two were set to have a posedown but Rude attacked Warrior with the pose bar, setting off a chain of events that culminated in a match between the two at WrestleMania V.

At the time, The Ultimate Warrior had held the Intercontinental Championship for 216 days and had run through all challengers in his path but that all changed that night in Atlantic City.

The match didn’t go extremely long, clocking in at less than 10 minutes, but it was pretty entertaining (most Rick Rude matches were pretty solid). The end saw fight out of a Rude Awakening — which was a great finisher by the way — and clothesline Rude to the outside. Warrior then attempted to suplex Rude back into the ring but Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, who is still the best manager in WWE history, grabbed Warrior’s leg, causing Rude to fall on top of him. Heenan held onto the leg and the ref counted the 1-2-3, giving Rude his first and only IC reign.

It was also historic in that it was The Ultimate Warrior’s first pinfall loss in the company. Rude would go on to hold the title for the next 148 days, keeping the program going throughout the summer before dropping it back to Warrior at SummerSlam. The two would feud once again the following year for the WWE Championship.