A quick WrestleMania trivia question for you -- when was the last time the Intercontinental Title was defended at WrestleMania?
Not last year. The champ at WM 23 was Umaga, who faced Lashley in the "Battle of the Billionaires" match, in which neither Umaga's IC Title nor Lashley's ECW belt (By the way, Vince HATES when you call 'em belts) were on the line.
Not in 2005 or 2006. The champ at both WM 21 and 22 was Shelton Benjamin, and both times he competed in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
Not in 2004 either. The champ at WM 20, Randy Orton, was in a tag match with Batista and Ric Flair against Mick Foley and The Rock.
2003? Keep trying. The title had been folded the previous October to try and built some more prestige for the new World Heavyweight Championship (a story for another time).
So the answer to the trivia question -- the last time the Intercontinental Championship was defended at WrestleMania was in 2002 -- six years ago -- when Rob Van Dam defeated William Regal in the opening match of WrestleMania X8 to win the gold. I actually interviewed RVD right after that bout for WWE.com.
And don't hold your breath waiting for another defense anytime soon -- the current champion, Chris Jericho, is booked to be in the Money in the Bank match this year, meaning that the earliest the title would be defended at the biggest show of the year would be 2009 -- coincidentally, the 30th anniversary of the title's birth.
Comments (3)
Calling the physical belt a championship when it is used as a weapon is just grammatically wrong and stupid. The championship is the what you win; the belt is the physical representation of it. But Vince is no genius, obviously.
I initially passed this by as I didn't think I had any good questions to ask. Then, I read over the Intercontinental title section where I was reminded about the "belt" factoid.
What exactly is Vince's deal with calling them belts or straps or whatever? Why does he have issue with that?
Minor side note; GREAT blog! Probably the only link I have ever visited from Scott Keith's blog that turned out to be worth the trip.
Why would someone like Jericho have the belt anyways?? They really ruined his comeback.