5 Greatest Intercontinental Title Matches

[humanoid92]

Obviously inspired by the other recent IC Title threads. Just because it's fun to talk about the IC Title. They don't have to be title changes, just title matches. I guess you don't have to limit it to just five. Like all these types of threads, the criteria is up to you. Just make sure you list what your own criteria is. For instance, I have several different lists, including:

 

Historical Signifigance

1. Bret vs. Bulldog

2. Savage vs. Steamboat

3. Michaels vs. Razor (WM 10)

4. Warrior vs. Hogan

5. Warrior vs. Honky

 

Best Matches (Best Workrate)

1. Savage vs. Steamboat

2. Bret vs. Bulldog

3. Bret vs. Piper

4. Michaels vs. Jarrett (IYH)

5. Bret vs. Perfect

 

Most Underrated

1. Michaels vs. Jarrett (IYH)

2. Razor vs. Jarrett (RR 95)

3. Warrior vs. Rude (SS 89)

4. Michaels vs. Bulldog (SNME)

5. Razor vs. Diesel (SS 94)

 

Honorable mentions: Jericho vs. Benoit (RR 01), Michaels vs. Tatanka (WM 9), Edge vs. Storm (SS 01), Michaels vs. Jannetty (Raw 5/93), Jericho vs. Benoit vs. Angle (WM 2000), Edge vs. Jarrett (Fully Loaded)

 

Most Overrated

1. Rock vs. Shamrock (WM 14)

2. HHH vs. Rock (SS 98)

3. Warrior vs. Rude (WM 5)

4. Warrior vs. Hogan (WM 6)

5. Perfect vs. Boss Man (WM 7)

 

Most Disappointing

1. Perfect vs. Michaels (SS 93)

2. Owen vs. Austin (SS 97)

3. Perfect vs. Tornado (SS 90)

4. Edge vs. Regal (RR 02)

5. Savage vs. Steele (WM 2)

[CanadianChris]

My 5 favourite matches are thusly:

 

1. Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat, WrestleMania III

2. Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog, Summerslam 92

3. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho, Royal Rumble 01

4. Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper, WrestleMania VIII

5. Shawn Michaels vs. Jeff Jarrett, In Your House 2

 

One I would add under historical significance would be the Savage/HTM match from October 1987. The first meeting of the Megapowers, and Savage's official face turn. A pretty decent little match, too.

 

I don't know of many people who think Warrior/Rude I was any good. However, Warrior/Rude II, from Summerslam 89, was surprisingly good.

[King Kamala]

My five favorite

5. Chris Jericho Vs Kurt Angle Vs Chris Benoit, WrestleMania 2000

4. Bret Hart Vs Roddy Piper, WrestleMania VIII

3. HBK Vs Jeff Jarrett, In Your House II

2. Randy Savage Vs Ricky Steamboat, WrestleMania III

1. Mr. Perfect Vs Bret Hart, SummerSlam '91 (I know it's probably not the best but SummerSlam '91 is one of the first PPVs I remember seeing and this'll always be one of my favorites)

[humanoid92]

One I would add under historical significance would be the Savage/HTM match from October 1987. The first meeting of the Megapowers, and Savage's official face turn. A pretty decent little match, too.

 

I don't know of many people who think Warrior/Rude I was any good. However, Warrior/Rude II, from Summerslam 89, was surprisingly good.

 

Agreed on Savage vs. Honky. That actually did cross my mind but I didn't include it for some reason. I guess Rude vs. Warrior WM V isn't widely praised but I've seen it get its share of props. It's a noteable event because of the shocking upset, but the match itself is pretty bad. I also guess Boss Man vs. Perfect from WM VII isn't universally loved either, but whenever anyone does praise it I kind of scratch my head.

 

Just to add in my five personal favorites, as you guys have done:

 

1. Bret vs. Piper

2. Bret vs. Bulldog

3. Shawn vs. Jarrett

4. Savage vs. Steamboat

5. Razor vs. Jarrett

 

With a huge honorable mention to the two Shawn/Razor ladder matches.

[Perfxion]

5: Mr Perfect vs Shawn Michaels(91)

 

4: Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ladder match from Summerslam 95

 

3: Bret Hart vs Roddy Piper (WM8)

 

2: Bret Hart vs Davy-Boy Smith (Summerslam 92)

 

1: Savage vs Steamboat (WM3)

[Danville_Wrestling]

Based on the IC title matches that I have seen here are my top 5:

 

1. Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat (WM 3)

2. Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (SummerSlam 1991)

3. Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper (WM 8)

4. Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude (SummerSlam 1989)

5. Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels (WM 10)

 

Commentary is what made a lot of these matches memorable/special to me. I thought Hart-Perfect and Hart-Piper were two of the best matches Monsoon/Heenan ever commentated and Ventura's ripping on Schiavone coupled with a hot crowd @ SummerSlam 1989 for the match elevates Warrior-Rude in my eyes.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe]

The most painfully underrated might be Jericho/Benoit from Backlash 2000. It was phenominal and about 20-25 minutes, but ended in a DQ and is generally forgotten.

[Lil' Bitch]

I totally agree with humanoid on all counts, great list!

[Red Baron]

I don't know why but I liked the Val Venis vs Rikishi cage match.

[Kahran Ramsus]

1. Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat, Wrestlemania III

2. Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels, Wrestlemania X

3. Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith, Summerslam 1992

4. Jeff Jarrett vs. Shawn Michaels, In Your House II

5. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho, Judgment Day 2000

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe]

Pretty much every time that Benoit and Jericho clashed in the Fed, it was an above average to great showing.

 

Against eachother: Mania 16, Backlash 00, Judgment Day 00, Rumble 01, King of the Ring 01

 

as well as teaming vs. Trips and 'Cold and then doing TLC III in the same week

 

That's just off the top of my head.

[Taker666]

I think last year had some really great Intercontinental Title Matches. Carlito Vs Nitro Vs Benjamin from vengeance 06 is definlly undertated and was one of the best matches of the year IMO. also Jeff Hardy Vs Nitro from Unforgiven 06 was another awesome match aswell.

[Lt. Al Giardello]

I don't know why but I liked the Val Venis vs Rikishi cage match.

 

Don't really remember most of the match, but I remember Rikishi jumping from the top of the cage and splashing Venis. That was a "HOLY SHIT!" moment.

[Perfxion]

Historical Signifigance

 

4. Warrior vs. Hogan

 

Most Overrated

 

4. Warrior vs. Hogan (WM 6)

 

I have a qustion: How can a match be one of the five most signifigant matches of a title, yet be overrated at the same time? As far as IC title matches it was not even brought to question. I know it was title for title, but when they talk about it now a days its Hogan vs Warrior in the Ultimate Showdown with little talked about the IC title itself being on the line. I can agree with you that it was an overrated match. But as for as the IC title goes, it was completely not a signifigant moment.

[humanoid92]

Historical Signifigance

 

4. Warrior vs. Hogan

 

Most Overrated

 

4. Warrior vs. Hogan (WM 6)

 

I have a qustion: How can a match be one of the five most signifigant matches of a title, yet be overrated at the same time? As far as IC title matches it was not even brought to question. I know it was title for title, but when they talk about it now a days its Hogan vs Warrior in the Ultimate Showdown with little talked about the IC title itself being on the line. I can agree with you that it was an overrated match. But as for as the IC title goes, it was completely not a signifigant moment.

 

That's a fair question. The quick answer would be that it's because underrated and overrated are opposites. Historical significance and overrated aren't opposites, so it's possible for the same match to fall under both categories.

 

As far as it being historically significant, I think that's already pretty well known. It was the main-event of WM 6, it was the two biggest stars in the world facing each other, it was Hogan supposedly passing the torch. You can argue that it wasn't significant in terms of just being an IC Title Match, but I think the fact that it's the only match I can remember that had the WWF Title against the IC Title with both belts on the line, and the fact that the IC Champ actually won does make it significant in that regard. IC Champs and World Champs have faced each other before, but I can't remember a time where both titles were actually on the line and it ended with one guy taking home both belts. And when else has the IC Title been on the line in the final match of a huge PPV, let alone a Wrestlemania with 60,000+ people there? (Other than Bret/Bulldog, I can't think of another.)

 

It all depends on how you define historical significance. Going by your requirement that it has to be significant as it specifically relates to the IC Title, Bret vs. Bulldog wouldn't be all that significant either. After all, Bulldog's reign never amounted to anything. Two months later he jobbed the belt away for good and left the company. So when you look at it from that perspective, that match wasn't significant at all. But the reason I ranked it #1 in that category is because of its overall impact ont he company, not just what it meant for the IC Title itself. Bret vs. Bulldog was a tremendously important match. It was the first PPV that didn't end with Hogan, or have Hogan at all, and Vince trusted two midcarders to go out and close the show with a ***** wrestling match, rather than throw another invincible superhero like the Warrior out there to "hulk up" and end the show. In a lot of ways, this match and its position on the card paved the way for the "small guy era" that took over in the mid 90s. It made Bret Hart's career, and helped paved the way for guys like Michaels to be considered as legitimate main eventers and World Title contenders. Not to mention that it was Bulldog's career defining moment, the introduction of "Hart Family storylines" that they continued to milk for the better part of the next five years, and that the match made Bret a legend in Europe, where he continued to be such a huge draw over there the rest of his career. So as an IC Title match alone, maybe it wasn't too significant. But take the big picture into consideration and it certainly was. The same can be said for the WM 6 match.

 

As far as Hogan vs. Warrior being an overrated match itself, you already said that you agree with me. It was a very significant and famous, memorable event, but the match itself was not that great and the actual action is remembered more fondly than it probably should be. It was a great effort from the two and it had plenty of drama, but when people walk around calling it ****1/2, well, it's just not.

 

I'm glad you called me out on this, though, because it made me explain what I meant by historical significance and allowed me to give my views on how important Bret vs. Bulldog was. That's the problem with these list threads. People can just list things #1-5 and not back them up or give any explanation for their rankings, which of course does not lend itself to a lot of discussion. If I'd gone into detail from the beginning, maybe you wouldn't have had to ask me to justify it, so I'm as guilty as anyone.

[CanadianChris]

As far as it being historically significant, I think that's already pretty well known. It was the main-event of WM 6, it was the two biggest stars in the world facing each other, it was Hogan supposedly passing the torch. You can argue that it wasn't significant in terms of just being an IC Title Match, but I think the fact that it's the only match I can remember that had the WWF Title against the IC Title with both belts on the line, and the fact that the IC Champ actually won does make it significant in that regard. IC Champs and World Champs have faced each other before, but I can't remember a time where both titles were actually on the line and it ended with one guy taking home both belts.

HHH vs. Kane at No Mercy 2002 was the other one. But I can see why that would escape anyone's mind, given that the match was built on the Katie Vick/necro angle.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

A couple important ones not yet mentioned.

 

Don Muraco/Jimmy Snuka (Cage Match, MSG: October 1983)

Steve Austin/Owen Hart (Summerslam '97)

Shawn Michaels/Marty Jannetty (Raw: August 1993)

[humanoid92]

Good call with HHH vs. Kane. Forgot about that one for the exact reasons you suggested. Also other than the brief Jericho, Benoit, Angle stuff, I really don't think much of the IC Title post-98 or so.

 

A couple important ones not yet mentioned.

 

Don Muraco/Jimmy Snuka (Cage Match, MSG: October 1983)

Steve Austin/Owen Hart (Summerslam '97)

Shawn Michaels/Marty Jannetty (Raw: August 1993)

 

I mentioned Owen vs. Austin as #2 of my "Most Disappointing" list. I'm a huge Owen mark, and even I think that match is overrated. Everyone remembers it for the botched ending but seems to claim it was some sort of **** match before that. I disagree. Was really disappointed when I went back and watched it again. Certainly not a bad match, just nothing special.

 

Not sure if I mentioned Shawn vs. Marty, but I love all their matches together. They had such great chemistry.