10 WrestleMania Statistics WWE Don’t Want You To Know

8. "I'm Going To Bring The Prestige Back To This Intercontinental Title..."

Dolph Ziggler WrestleMania
WWE.com

Over nine consecutive WrestleManias, the Intercontinental Championship was defended on just one occasion: WrestleMania 25.

At WrestleMania XIX, the title didn't exist. In a very sad omen of the years to come, WWE no longer required a workhorse title designed to gauge its next potential headline talent, because the company happened upon the genius idea of just not really pushing very many.

The title returned to WrestleMania (XX) around the waist of Randy Orton, who didn't defend it. Shelton Benjamin wore the gold at 'Manias 21 and 22, but participated in the first two Money In The Bank Ladder matches. We'd have missed his unique and iconic contribution to them, so we can't be too snarky here. We can be snarky over the idea of Bobby Lashley showing more interest in seeing Vince McMahon shaved bald over holding illustrious gold at WrestleMania 23.

At WrestleMania XXIV, and by the way f*ck WWE for the inconsistent title conventions, Chris Jericho also participated in MITB, for at this point, Vince had essentially Madusa'd the Intercontinental Title right into the trash. Drew McIntyre entered WrestleMania XXVI as champion, and guess where he ended up. Guess.

If it's not up there, I'll give you the money myself - yes, Drew found himself at the top of a ladder!

Here's another question: who reigned with the Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania XXVII? Guess. The answer could easily be Dolph Ziggler or Kofi Kingston or John Morrison, because by this point it was all a complete blur, but the answer is in fact Wade Barrett. "Boom!" one of you know-it-alls roars in self-admiration, but guess which of his 345 entrance themes he used at the time. You can't. Again: a complete blur.

In the midst of all this, and also f*ck the next guy who promises to "bring the prestige back to the Intercontinental Title" because you are a godd*mn liar, Rey Mysterio defeated JBL at WrestleMania 25. In 21 seconds.

It literally took more time for Triple H to cover Booker T at WrestleMania XIX.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!