25 best WWE Intercontinental Champions of all time
By Luke Norris
6. Bret Hart
Like his longtime rival Shawn Michaels, Bret “The Hitman” Hart spent his early years in WWE as a tag team guy, partnering with Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart as The Hart Foundation and found great success in that. But he was always destined to be a top singles star and like so many of the people on this list, it started with the Intercontinental Championship. After splitting with Neidhart following WrestleMania VII, Hart set his sights on Mr. Perfect’s IC title and this was a dream matchup for any wrestling fan, a matchup that still holds up to this day. The two met at SummerSlam in 1991 and put on a show that still stands as one of the best matches in SummerSlam history. It was a technical masterpiece from both men and Hart finally won singles gold by making Mr. Perfect tap out to the Sharpshooter. Bret would hold the strap for 144 days before losing it to The Mountie at a house show two days before the 1992 Royal Rumble, at which point Rowdy Roddy Piper won his first-ever championship in WWE by knocking off the former Fabulous Rougeau.
That led to a program pitting Bret Hart against his longtime friend leading into WrestleMania VIII and this became one of the greatest Intercontinental Championship matches in WrestleMania history. The two battled back and forth until Hart became one of the only people to actually pin Piper, winning his second Intercontinental Championship in the process. The Excellence of Execution would hold the title for 146 more days until facing off with The British Bulldog at SummerSlam in 1992, an event that took place in Bulldog’s home country of England at famed Wembley Stadium. The two actually main-evented the night and put on an instant classic, arguably the best match in SummerSlam history, with Bulldog emerging victorious. But Bret would be just fine. He went on to defeat Ric Flair to win his first WWE Championship a couple of months later. Just those three matches alone make him one of the best Intercontinental Champions of all time.