The Day The WWE Intercontinental Title Died
6. The Workhorse Reputation
For so long, we've all heard the phrase of "workhorse" thrown around when talking about the Intercontinental Championship.
Not only was that a cool label to throw out there, it was completely factual - for so many of the Intercontinental Champions of yesteryear were easily outworking the stars above them in the main World Championship picture.
While Hulk Hogan's charisma was off the charts and people were flocking to engulf themselves in Hulkamania, brother, the Hulkster dropping the leg on a monster heel was like watching in-ring amateur hour when compared to what the likes of Tito Santana, Ricky Steamboat, Randy Savage, Greg Valentine, 'Ravishing' Rick Rude and Mr. Perfect were putting on in the Intercontinental Title ranks during Hogan's glory days.
As the '80s transitioned into the '90s, that workhorse label continued to stick. While so many great names were associated with that championship in the early '90s, one person who consistently exemplified that workhouse moniker was Bret Hart.
Hart wasn't alone in keeping the prestige of the Intercontinental Championship alive, but it's likely fair to say that no IC Champ ever had as consistently high a quality of matches as the Hitman did during his two runs with the title. Throw names like Mr. Perfect, Shawn Michaels, the British Bulldog, Razor Ramon, and even Marty Jannetty into the mix, and you can see why the then-WWF's secondary championship was still such a huge deal in terms of pure match quality back then.