With all due respect to Pat Patterson, Tito Santana, and all the other great Intercontinental Champions who held the belt before Savage, the Macho Man might as well have been the first Intercontinental Champion ever. The way the Intercontinental Championship is looked at today can all be traced back to Savage. For years, the title has been considered the “workhorse” championship and a stepping stone to becoming the World Champion. Randy Savage is the man who gave us that blueprint. Before Macho Man did it, no Intercontinental Champion had ever gone on to become the WWF Champion (Pedro Morales was a former WWWF Champion, and won that title before the Intercontinental Championship even existed). Savage’s run with the title, and subsequent run with the WWF title, set a precedent that would be followed by guys like Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, and Stone Cold Steve Austin for years to come. He he held the Intercontinental Championship and built it up for almost 14 months. That’s a long time as champion, even in an era where having relatively long title reigns was normal.
