WWE SmackDown: 5 reasons why a new Intercontinental Championship was introduced

#1 To revive the prestige of the title

Shinsuke Nakamura

This is the first and biggest step that WWE has taken to potentially revive the prestige of the Intercontinental Championship. Ask yourself this: When was the last time there was a genuinely great Intercontinental Championship reign? You have to go back to April to October 2016 when The Miz reigned supreme as the champion.

That was a reign that, at the time, truly revived the prestige of the title. It was the most important Intercontinental Championship reign in over a decade and the first time when the title felt nearly on the same level as the WWE World Championship.

The reign was so good and the payoff where Dolph Ziggler won was the best possible scenario but WWE has yet to recreate a reign that comes anywhere close to that, even though The Miz has had multiple reigns with the same title since.

The Miz is just one superstar but there are many others on the roster who can take the title to a whole new level. The new design is the first step towards it.