5 Underrated WWE Intercontinental Championship Matches From the New Millennium

The Intercontinental Championship in recent years has never had that much of a fair shake of the stick. During the Brand Extension era, the weakened rosters made for very weak main event scenes and even weaker midcard runs, leaving belts like the tag and Intercontinental titles looking a little suspect.

Furthermore, with the advent of things like a second world championship and the Money in the Bank ladder match, what good midcarders there were have always been whisked away either to better things or the IC Title just wasn’t defended. It may not feel like it means much to win it anymore.

Now, there have been quite a few beacons. The Rey Mysterio/Chris Jericho series in 2009 is seen as one of the best programs ever, the back and forth between Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho in the early 2000s was legendary, and The Miz and Dolph Ziggler’s feud not too long ago was also well regarded. But they really are few and far between.

With the WWE possibly putting at least some sort of spotlight on the top secondary title in the weeks leading to this year’s WrestleMania by throwing some of the bigger names in the company at it, now would be a good time to take a look back at some good – if not talked about – matches from this dimly-lit era of the Intercontinental Championship. Not only are many of these matches overlooked and quite good, but a few of them meant big things for everyone on the winning end.

 

1. Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns – RAW 01/01/18

Kicking off with a snippet about Roman Reigns. Come at me.

But that’s precisely why a match like this might be overlooked, even if it did include internet darling Samoa Joe. Reigns gets such a volatile reaction that when a solid match does actually go down, fans aren’t exactly quick to give props. That’s not right, guys. Give each man and woman their due.

This is quite possibly one of best TV IC Title matches in a number of years. It has something we don’t get much of nowadays and that’s two big guys just beating the bejeezus out of one another for the midcard belt. There is never a dull moment in the contest, with Joe and Reigns going full throttle for over twenty minutes.

There was even the added stakes that if Reigns got DQ’d, he’d lose the gold. That looked like a favourable stipulation to Keep Roman Strong™, while perhaps putting the belt on a hot Joe. While this did not happen, both men came out of it looking like absolute beasts. Samoa Joe just rubbing it in Roman’s face that he’s put every member of The Shield on the shelf was priceless. Not many matches have such drama abound when a referee gets shoved accidentally. Hopefully, this gets kicked up again once Joe is back and healthy

 

2. Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H – Smackdown 12/04/01

The few weeks between WrestleMania 17 and the kick-off of the much maligned Invasion were a strange wasteland. In this strangeness, the even stranger alliance of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and the man who once arranged for the “Rattlesnake’s” literal death, one Triple H, went on to dominate as the Two-Man Power Trip.  The duo did whatever the hell they wanted because did you not read the two names I just mentioned?

One of those things they did because they felt like it was beat up on Matt Hardy and Lita on an episode of Raw. That following SmackDown, Jeff Hardy retaliated by doing three things virtually unfathomable now in 2018: 1) He cracked Austin with a chair and lived. 2) He cracked Triple H with a chair and lived. 3) He hit Stephanie McMahon with a Twist of Fate and the sponsors lived.

That set-up put Jeff against Trips in the main event and the two had quite the enjoyable brawl, spilling all over the ring. Both men wanted vengeance for their loved ones, so merely pinning each other was essentially out of the equation. It was about making the other man suffer.

Unfortunately for Triple H, his penchant for attacking referees got in the way, allowing Matt Hardy to interfere and – you guessed it – crack Triple H with a chair and live. One Swanton Bomb later, and Jeff Hardy had won his first in a long line of singles titles he’d capture to roaring (if surprised) ovations.

 

3. Carlito vs. Johnny Nitro vs. Shelton Benjamin – Vengeance 2006

Man, Shelton Benjamin can really go.

There really weren’t many better in the ring in the mid-2000s. What this match lacked in star power it had overflowing with potential. All three of the men involved had something that was never quite tapped into in the WWE. Sure, Nitro would find success later after he changed his last name, but he never quite broke all the way though. Carlito was continually held under the glass ceiling (although many reports say it was perhaps his attitude), and Benjamin, man, had he been better on the stick, he would have probably been a multi-time world champ by now.

Whatever the cases may be, it takes nothing away from this match, with all three men actually getting a good spotlight on what is, overall, a generally underrated show. The title and matches like this really did give a chance to so many underutilised guys at any given point in time. The superplex/spider German domino tower that this match introduced to the mainstream is still used on the main roster to this day.

At the end, we got Nitro’s first run with the title which, while unspectacular, put him in a great position to play the foil to the returning Jeff Hardy, a feud that lifted both men to greater heights. No real negatives here to go along with a crazy good match.

 

4. John Morrison vs. Rey Mysterio – Smackdown 04/09/09

Man, John(ny) Morrison/Mundo/Nitro can really go.

Situated on a random episode of SmackDown following the white-hot CM Punk/Jeff Hardy story, but right before Punk’s heel run castration at the hands of The Undertaker, this match was, on paper, as unpredictable as any and would be an athletic delight.

The latter part of that paper promise was delivered in stunning fashion, with Mysterio and Morrison seemingly wanting to top each other with each absurdly athletic counter after the next. It appeared to be a game of one-upmanship to see who could contort their bodies as they flung it off something the best. It is incredible in every sense of the word and Morrison pulled out a well-deserved, hard fought victory, which seemed a surprise given a PPV was only a few days away.

But the other part of that paper promise, the unpredictability of it, was a bit tarnished because not long before, Rey Mysterio failed a Wellness Policy test and needed to drop the gold. Even still, on this night, Mysterio and Morrison delivered to keep the candle that was 2009 SmackDown burning bright.

 

5. Edge vs. Christian – No Mercy 2001

You remember when Edge and Christian were brothers? No? Too bad. It was a pretty good time.

The Invasion was such hot, bustled garbage in so many ways, the few matches that are gems take a hazmat suit to try and find, but this is one of ’em that’s worth scrounging around for.

Edge was the reigning 2001 King of the Ring. Playing up the ‘jealous sibling’ story trope, Christian took the IC Title from Edge via dirty means at Unforgiven a month prior and lured Edge into a backstage assault, using their own mother as bait.

Told you. Being brothers makes for a good time.

The main thing here was the beauty of the storytelling. Edge and Christian, masters of the ladder match, were having one at the very event where they made names just two years prior. They bludgeoned each other throughout out of sheer hatred, and the finishing blow was when Edge delivered the move the duo made famous – the Con-Chair-To – from the top of a ladder to his brother/best friend. Ladder matches are never usually called upon to tell story-driven matches because of the daredevil spotfest nature of the contest, but this one absolutely nailed it. Put all that together along with commentary from Jim Ross and Paul Heyman and you have a match that should be screamed from the heavens about.

Or at least from atop a ladder.