5 Best Intercontinental Title Matches of All Time

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

Bret Hart defeated Mr. Perfect to win his first singles title in the WWF.

Much like the ladder match, SummerSlam is also forever linked to the Intercontinental Championship. The belt changed hands five years in a row (SummerSlam 1988 through 1992), skipped a year, and changed again in 1994.

After skipping two years, it changed hands again for the next six years (1997 through 2002). A new Intercontinental Champion has been crowned at 14 of the 31 SummerSlam events.

This SummerSlam, the fourth edition of the show, was the turning point in Bret Hart's career. Before this, he was seen as a good tag guy and had success, but not stunning success, as one half of the Hart Foundation with his brother-in-law, Jim Neidhart.

Mr. Perfect was believed to be retiring (think Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 14) and he was going out on his back, the way a wrestler should.

The passing of the torch from the Perfect One, who, prior to Bret becoming the man, people may have called "The Excellence of Execution", to the man who would actually hold that moniker, Bret Hart, was an exceptional match, moment, and had a lasting effect.

The SummerSlam 1991 classic may not be remembered as fondly as the one a year later, but this match has much grander significance. Although Perfect would go on to have a few more years in the ring, at the time, everyone thought he was done. Bret was being given the ball, but he decided that he was going to take it instead.

Mr. Perfect did everything within his power in order to make Bret look like the conquering hero, the pure embodiment of heart and wrestling talent. Perfect, like Bret, was indeed an embodiment of wrestling talent, but he was also the pure embodiment of shameless self-promotion and self-aggrandization.

His name was Mr. Perfect, after all. You don't call yourself that if you don't think you're better than everyone else.