The Day The WWE Intercontinental Title Died

8. Where It All Began

We all remember that fateful September 1, 1979 night where Pat Patterson stole the show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as he won a tournament to emerge as the first ever WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion.

Only we don't, because it didn't actually happen.

In the WWE narrative, WWF North American Heavyweight Champion Patterson emerged victorious in a tournament to unify that title with the South American Heavyweight Championship. As the story goes, Pat beat Johnny Rodz in the finals of that tournament.

The thing is, there was no South American Heavyweight Championship and there was no Brazil-set tournament. In reality, the then-World Wrestling Federation just wanted to shake things up by introducing a new championship.

Regardless of how the crowning of the first Intercontinental Champion was pure fabrication, Patterson went on to have an impressive run as the inaugural IC Champ. The French-Canadian would keep hold of the gold for 233 days before losing it to Ken Patera.

Establishing a sense of prestige for the Intercontinental Championship, Patera himself would then have a 231-day reign, Pedro Morales would run with the belt for 194 days, Don Muraco would get 156 days, Morales would get an incredible 425-day second reign, and Muraco likewise would get a second run - this time at 385 days.

It was during Muraco's second Intercontinental Championship reign that the World Wrestling Federation formally moved away from the National Wrestling Alliance, and the Vincent J. McMahon-led promotion had now truly positioned itself with a much-coveted secondary championship.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

First Posted On: 28th Nov 2020

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