10 Worst WWE Intercontinental Champions Of All Time

4. Curtis Axel

Curtis Axel Intercontinental Title
WWE.com

Imagine for a second the immense pressure that Joe Hennig must feel to live up to his father's accomplishments as Mr. Perfect. It can't be easy, and likely became even harder when finding out that WWE's grand plan was to ignore the man's (wrestling) heritage and call him 'Michael McGillicutty' on NXT.

Fans don't forget that sort of thing, so it was nigh-on impossible to take Hennig seriously even when he was renamed Curtis Axel, handed Paul Heyman as a manager, and given a run as WWE Intercontinental Champion in 2013.

Things all started so promisingly for Axel when he won the title in a Triple Threat bout at Payback in June of that year. Better yet, there were tears in his eyes as he stood proudly in the middle of the ring with Heyman and dedicated the victory to his dad on Father's Day.

The 155 days which followed are challenging to recall, and Axel dropped the belt to Big E. Langston that November. Not only did his Intercontinental Title reign not live up to Mr. Perfect's numerous stints with the belt, the unfortunate Axel struggled to look anything other than out of place with the title.

Advertisement
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.