Boards.ie PW Intercontinental Champion Tournament

ShagNastii

Right guys it has been a while since we chanced a tournament. The last one IIRC was Stable Wars, which saw The Hart Foundation being crown board's top wrestling group. Before that we had The Dudley Boyz coming out on top of a huge tag team tournament. Inbetween saw Hulk Hogan being voted favourite theme music and ECW/Four Horsemen drawing for the non WWE music title.

I had an interview this morn I'm sure didn't go the best and would love something to take my mind off it. Am away to London tomorrow night(until sunday) but will make the draw for this tournament tonight and get it on track for a monday kick-off.


The Intercontinental Championship. A nice easy draw with 72 champions since it's introduction on September 1, 1979. I know I don't speak for myself when I glow as I speak about how important the IC title is to me as a fan. So many amazing champions, so many amazing feuds, so many amazing matches and so many amazing moments have involved the number two championship.

It has seen a few bad patches where the title was maybe devalued but it has ,no doubt, always been an honour for any wrestler to wear. Before the MITB suitcase was that rubberstamp that showed everybody you were going places the IC belt was carried by a man/women that was a big deal or was going to be a big deal.

Love the champ list. Tis stacked with some proper legends which only attenuates the prestige and history of the title.

Kane,Ezekiel Jackson,Ahmed Johnson,CM Punk,The Godfather,Kurt Angle,Booker T,Marc Mero,Big Show,Albert,Lance Storm,John "Bradshaw" Layfield,D'Lo Brown,Marty Jannetty,Billy Gunn,Road Dogg,Rikishi,Test,The Mountie,Dean Douglas,Pedro Morales, Don Muraco,The Honky Tonk Man,Tito Santana,Razor Ramon,The Ultimate Warrior,Randy Savage,Mr. Perfect,Shawn Michaels,Curtis Axel,Randy Orton,Johnny Nitro/John Morrison,Hunter Hearst Helmsley/Triple H,Christian,Shelton Benjamin,Rocky Maivia/The Rock,Chris Jericho,Jeff Hardy,Wade Barrett/Bad News Barrett,Jeff Jarrett,Bret Hart,Greg Valentine,William Regal,Ken Shamrock,Umaga,Eddie Guerrero,The Miz,Carlito,Texas Tornado,Chyna,Val Venis,Roddy Piper,Ricky Steamboat,Steve Austin,British Bulldog,Kofi Kingston,Cody Rhodes,Pat Patterson,Ken Patera,Rob Van Dam,Rick Rude,Chris Benoit,Diesel,Owen Hart,Rey Mysterio,Edge,Goldust,Big E Langston/Big E,Ric Flair,Santino Marella,Drew McIntyre,Dolph Ziggler


Boards.ie PW Intercontinental Champion Tournament

Hope these tournament don't spam the boards. I guess since I won't be adding the match-ups until monday you might as well add your thoughts on the IC title, who you will be gunning for and maybe how you think voting should go down.

I was thinking first to four for the first few rounds with no explanation needed then change it up in the latter rounds. As always voting for YOUR favourite. Think it could be good to vote on the wrestler as intercontinental champion,their reign/s as opposed to the wrestler themselves. E.g you might hate Jeff Hardy but when you look at it his title reign was enjoyable and he really suited the title.

No better cure for a WWE party hangover than having some gobsheen quizzing you about your fav IC champs. See you monday.

Moneymaker

Bret, Jericho, Honky Tonk Man, Warrior, Mr.Perfect, Razor, HBK, Shelton, Cody Rhodes and many more all had strong reigns.

Cool idea. My money is on Bret.

rovert

Shinsuke Nakamura!

the groutch

Moneymaker wrote: »

My money is on Bret.

I'm afraid I've got some BAD NEWS!

beakerjoe

Good luck Shag, I found the theme wars fun yet tough to keep on top of.

My moneys on Jeff Jarrett ...WHAT DO YOU MEAN IM ON MY OWN WITH THAT OPINION.

ShagNastii

Joking aside I think Jeff Jarrett was a great IC champ. When he was Double J I thought he made a fitting IC champ. The gimmick was fun and there is no doubting his talent. Never rated him as a world champ but he in my view oozes mid card champ.

The title plundered a bit in the attitude era but Slapnut Jeff 's run was memorable.

For me this centres around memorable moments and matches. That is why I find it hard to look past the likes of HBK, Razor, Austin, Rocky or Bret.

As always there is destined to be a dark horse. Confident Goldust, Barrett, Regal and the aforementioned Double J maybe will rattle a few cages.

Moneymaker

I think when it comes to match quality, being a credible champion and raising the prestige of the title, Bret did more then anyone else.

Some of Brets best ever matches were for the IC title(Piper, Mr.Perfect and Bulldog). Infact those were probably those guys best matches of their career too, definitely Piper and Bulldogs.

beakerjoe

Who will be the "William Regals Real Mans Man" OR "Head Cheese" of this thread.

My Moneys on Greg "Im expecting twins" Valentine

ricero

Y2J was my favorite intercontinental champion

D.Q

Y2J all the way. Just suited him. Always remember him being champ in either the first or second smackdown game.

BMMachine

Rick Rude, Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect, Razor Ramone and Y2J are the best for me

Bounty Hunter

beakerjoe wrote: »

Who will be the "William Regals Real Mans Man" OR "Head Cheese" of this thread.

My Moneys on Greg "Im expecting twins" Valentine

Its gotta be the honk a Tonk man and his honk a meter... Now i dont know if im Promoting Honky or Santino for that role :pac:

ShagNastii

Right- Summerslam in the bag. Draw was made before I went on my travels. Some absolutely fantastic bouts in the first round and a few dud with the few lesser champs. Gonna get through the first round quick enough so I'm going to do two matches at a time. We'll make it first to five see if we have the numbers that reply, if not I'll change it to first to four.

Due to the odd numbers round one has a few triple threats matches. As with the bracket draw these were all drawn at random. As always your choice and maybe a short a reason why you picked 'em.

Off to a cracking starting - a favourite will fall.

Honky Tonk Man
"The King of Title Reigns"



VS

"Macho Man" Randy Savage
"Ohhhhhh Yeaaaah"

Kurt Angle
"Greatest Intercontinental champ ever. It's true, it's true"



VS

Diesel (Kevin Nash)
"Shawn's muscle wins the gold"

Round 1 Matches-

Honky Tonk Man VS “Macho” Man Randy Savage

Kurt Angle Vs Diesel

Garseys

Damn what a tough first round!

I have to go with the Honky Tonk Man. Although I love Macho man to death (don't kill me Jay!) I associate Honky with that belt more than anyone else there. The greatest intercontinental champion of all time.


Kurt wins it for me too. I loved when he held the Euro-Continental title and I thought it gave him more credibility on the rise.

beakerjoe

Honkey Tonk man for me. His reign was more memoerable than Savages.

Nether Kurt or Diesel were memorable champs. Kurt shades it thol

Moneymaker

Honky Tonk Man. He does have the record length title reign after all!

Kurt's IC title reign got the ball rolling for him. I don't even remember Diesel's.

Sin Eater

Honky Tonk, one of the greatest reigns of all time.


Kurt Angle.

thebostoncrab

Oooooooooo yeah I can't wait to watch Macho Man make it to the semis, I loved his....oh ****, The Honka Tonka Man is his first match!?!?!

Well that's one big 'un gone already then! Gotta vote for Honky Tonk here.

Angle easily, it was the begining of a great career and gave us that excellent three way at 'Mania.

ShagNastii

Honky and Kurt surprisingly whitewash two guys who post their title reigns went on to headline Wrestlemania. Diesel and Savage bow out.

Two interesting match-ups next.

Ken Shamrock
“The World Most Dangerous Man”




VS

Kofi Kingston
“4 Time Champion Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom”

And

Ric Flair
“His last singles title ever and one which made him a triple crown winner”



VS

Big E Langston
“When Big E lost his Langston”

Moneymaker

Kofi always did decent with the IC title, I never cared about Shamrock.

Flair because that IC title run was a pure nostalgia trip, one last run for Naitch. Big E did nothing with the title(not his fault but still).

thebostoncrab

I liked Shamrocks run with the belt. It wasn't amazing by any means, but I can remember more of his defences than I can Kofi.

Flair simply because E's reign...I struggle to remember any of it. I think that's going to be a recurring theme with the more recent champions.

Sin Eater

Kofi

Flair

Necro

Ken Shamrock - Kofi, despite having held the title numerous times has been very uninspiring.

Ric Flair - as above, also Flair with IC title was entertaining, more than I can say for Big E

gerrybbadd

Shamrock - that belt just look right around his waist.

Definately Flair. No contest here!

ShagNastii

I’ll bump this and add the winning vote for Shamrock and give Flair another.

Shamrock . I loved Shamrock’s run with the belt. His fued with Rocky for the belt is criminally ignored.

Flair over Big E. Big E had a few decent PPV bouts but his run was utterly meh. Always a novelty when a former main eventer nabs a mid-card title.


Next two bouts going to make it first to four as to keep the comp moving.

Umaga
"The Samoan Belt Muncher"


VS

Dean Douglas
"When the Franchise was at School"



AND


Pat Patterson
"The Inaugural Champion"


VS

D-Lo Brown
"Damn it D-Lo"

First to four wins. First of our handful of Triple Threats of the round up next.

Moneymaker

Douglas. Most under-rated wrestler ever? I liked Umaga but i'd forgotten he even had the IC title.

Patterson. He was the first IC champion ever after all. Unfortunate for D'Lo to draw him as he had a decent enough run with the IC and European titles.

gerrybbadd

Umanga for me (:p) here - Absolute monster, who looked legit stiff with some of his moves. Great big man, and a real shame he's no longer with us

I have to go with D'Lo here too. Props to Pat for being the 1st champ and all, but D'Lo had a great run as IC champ, with some real good matches.

Garseys

Gotta go with Umaga and D'lo as I can actually remember their respective reigns.

Necro

Agree with majority here: Umaga and D'Lo for me!

ricero

umaga and dlo brown for me

Blue_Dabadee

Umaga and Dlo Brown as well.

ShagNastii

Umaga and D-Lo advance. Maybe not a stand out favourite but you’d have to class Pat Patterson as a huge faller. Can the Samoan keep the bulldozer going? First triple threat of the first round. Will post one match up to avoid confusion.

Road Dogg
“Oh you didn’t know I was IC champion”


VS

William Regal
“Gentleman champ with the Power of the Punch”


VS
Razor Ramon
“The Bad guy”



First to four advances.

gerrybbadd

Has to be Da Bad Guy, Razor Ramon!

Moneymaker

Definitely Razor. Childhood memories galore of him with the IC strap!

Kankan14

Razor for me.
Ladder match is a distinct memory of mine.
EDIT: regal was a close(ish) second with Road Dogg a country mile back in third

Necro

Razor Ramon, no doubts here! On top of his ladder match I remember a series of excellent matches with the 123 Kid also.

ShagNastii

Razor goes through. As somebody said the two times Regal was champ he was impressive and as always wholly entertaining but there is no looking past Scott Hall. I'll give you guys one more triple threat before we gets back to two bouts per post. Three guys that IMHO are very much on an even keel.

Carlito
"Intercontinental Champ? That's Cool"


VS

Randy Orton
"A Legend Killer is Born"



VS

Texas Tornado(Kerry Von Erich)
"The Modern Day Warrior"

ricero

carlito for me

Blue_Dabadee

Orton for me.

Kankan14

Texas Tornado for me.

Man this takes me back.....

Moneymaker

Orton, he had a really good(and lengthy reign) as IC champ. Matches with Foley(best match of Orton's career maybe?) and Edge were really damn good.

gerrybbadd

Definately Randy. One of the greatest IC champs of all time in my book

WinnyThePoo

Carlito

Necro

Orton for me. Evolution with all the titles was awesome stuff.

JP Liz V1

The other Ultimate Warrior, Kerry for me

ShagNastii

Randy Orton goes through against two very credible champions in Carlito and Kerry Von Erich. Could Evolution's rookie rattle a few cages in this tournament?
Up next we have a foursome from the Attitude Era to choose from.

Kane
"The Big Red Machine"


VS

Test
"Stephanie's First Boyfriend"




AND


Albert
"Lord Hairyback"



VS

Christian
"The Peep and the Vet"

First to four.

JP Liz V1

Christian and Test

Necro

Yikes..... Two tough calls. I'm voting Test for the first one, the unification match with Edge was brilliant. Shame as I did enjoy Kane as IC Champion too!
Christian gets my vote in the second match as his 'coming of age' revolved around the IC title and included an excellent ladder match with Edge.

Blue_Dabadee

Test and Christian

Test and Captain Charisma. The IC Title just doesn't suit Kane and Albert has to be one of the most forgettable champs ever.

ShagNastii

A whitewash for Kane and Albert. Kane did nothing memorable but did Albert do ANYTHING with the belt. We're going all Cat Stevens with the next two bouts Father and Son. Interesting, yet I sense predictable.

Mr.Perfect
"The Perfect Champion"


VS

Dolph Ziggler
"The Current Champ Can Show Off"


AND


Curtis Axel
"The Perfect Tribute"


VS

Chris Jericho
"So many Y2J incarnations, so many Title Reigns"