10 WWE Stars Who Cemented The Intercontinental Title's Legacy

6. Rob Van Dam

It would be easy to look at the Rob Van Dam and his reigns as Intercontinental champion as being the products of an era where titles changed as rapidly as men and women change their underwear. It would be easy to chalk his runs with the strap up to having nothing else better to do so the company rewarded his perpetual overness with several title reigns to make up for their unwillingness to push him to the next level. The fact of the matter is that Van Dam has always succeeded as a secondary champion who was not asked to carry programs with interviews, instead relying on his superb in-ring skills to get over and elevate a title by proxy. The Intercontinental Championship allowed him to do just that. Matches with Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, William Regal, Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho and Christian were not only some of the best matches on the the card, they helped add to the title's legacy of great matches. The two Benoit matches, in particular, resulted in Van Dam growing exponentially as a worker. No longer just a spot monkey capable of doing things that no one else could, he evolved into a legitimate great worker while carrying the title and working with the Rabid Wolverine. Van Dam, much like Chris Jericho before him, was a Superstar fans perceived to be better than his spot on the card indicated. He had name value and had won their respect thanks to his impressive resume. When he held the title, he elevated its importance by association alone, not to mention the outstanding matches that he turned in. In many ways, he is the Superstar most closely associated with the title during the early-to-mid 2000s, and rightfully so.