3. Over A Stretch Of Nine WrestleManias, The Intercontinental Belt Was Only Defended Once - For 21 Seconds
From the time Rob Van Dam unseated William Regal for the gold at WrestleMania 18, up until Big Show KO'ed Cody Rhodes for the belt at WrestleMania 28, nine WrestleManias took place. The only Intercontinental title match to that place in that decade-long stretch was when Rey Mysterio (dressed as Heath Ledger's Joker) knocked off JBL at WrestleMania 25 to win it, after a paltry 21 second sprint. The Intercontinental belt's relevance whittled away in years where champions like Shelton Benjamin, Chris Jericho, and Drew McIntyre were put in the Money in the Bank ladder match. The days of Savage vs. Steamboat, Piper vs. Hart, and Ramon vs. Michaels were long over, and the IC belt had lost its status as a prestigious WrestleMania prize.