10 Greatest WWE Intercontinental Champions Of All Time

10. Pat Patterson

The first-ever is often remembered with rose-tinted glasses. Early Royal Rumbles, for example, haven't held up to today's standards as the stakes and performances over the last two decades overshadow the originators. The same can't be said of the first IC Champion.

Pat Patterson is partly responsible for the aforementioned Rumble match, and while he only held the IC belt that one time, his unquestionable passion and charisma helped to make the championship become the success that endures to this day. Back in 1979, the WWF wasn't the global juggernaut we know and tolerate today; we were still six years away from the inaugural WrestleMania, and the WWF was still attached to the National Wrestling Alliance.

A trailblazer in more ways than one, Patterson may have gained the title by winning a made-up tournament in Rio de Janeiro, but he cemented the belt in the minds of the WWF fans over the next 233 days. It's impossible to say whether the IC title would have burst onto the scene with the same impact had somebody less capable been given the duty; one thing is for certain - Pat Patterson was an all-time great.