25 best WWE Intercontinental Champions of all time

1. Randy Savage

When I was first asked to put this incredible list together, I told myself that the number one entry on this list had to be the guy that I’ve most associated the Intercontinental Championship in my more than three decades of watching WWE and the answer was as clear as day: “Macho Man” Randy Savage.

The game changed when he came to the company and there’s no getting around that. Not only did he have the look and the ability to cut a great promo that rivals anyone’s in history but he had the skill to match and it didn’t take long for him to become one of the biggest heels in WWE and just one of the best overall stars altogether. His matches, even the ones against the jobbers, were entertaining and having Elizabeth out there with him certainly didn’t hurt. So it didn’t take long for him to get into the Intercontinental Championship picture and he battled Tito Santana on numerous occasions before finally stealing the title away from him on February 8, 1986 after knocking him out with a pair of brass knuckles. Classic Macho, am I right?

I honestly don’t remember anybody loving that title as much as Randy Savage did. He went on to have a nice feud with Hulk Hogan as the number one contender, even getting some countout victories but never winning the WWE Championship and also had a program with Bruno Sammartino. He successfully defended the title against George “The Animal” Steele at WrestleMania 2 and then went on to one of the biggest feuds of his career with Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, which is still one of my favorite programs of all time. Everything seemed so real back then and the draping of the throat over the barricade and smashing his larynx with the bell was just so beautiful. But nothing was quite as beautiful as their match at WrestleMania III. Considered by many as the best match in WrestleMania history, they put on an absolute clinic and upstaged the Hogan vs. Andre main event that night in the Pontiac Silverdome. Steamboat obviously ended the 414-day reign of Savage, his only run with the Intercontinental Championship, but the Macho Man did just fine for himself, winning the WWE Championship a year later. This is the reign that will always stick out to me and this is the reason Randy Savage sits atop this list as the best Intercontinental Champion of all time.

Next: Ranking all 25 WrestleMania matches of The Undertaker

Who was your favorite Intercontinental Champion? Feel free to join in the conversation below in our comments section and be sure to check back in with FanSided each and every day for all of your WWE needs.