Twenty-five Wrestlemanias ago, the Intercontinental Championship was contested in a match between the late Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. The performance that those two men put on that night was the epic conclusion to one of the epic feuds in WWF history. (You can watch the match here if you've never seen it or if you'd like to see it again.) The Intercontinental Title isn't quite what it used to be, but the match involving it on Sunday night could wind up being better than you might think, as Cody Rhodes takes on The Big Show for the belt.
Rhodes has spent the past few months mocking Big Show as sort of an "anti-Undertaker," citing all of the times that he's gotten beaten at Wrestlemania over the years (as opposed to the Undertaker, who is undefeated on wrestling's biggest stage). Rhodes does have something of a point. . .in 11 Wrestlemania appearances, Big Show has compiled a record of just 3-8, and has lost to a sumo wrestler (Akebono at Wrestlemania 21) and a boxer (Floyd Mayweather at Wrestlemania 24).
Rhodes has also developed into one of WWE's better, and more underrated, workers over the past few months. He defeated Rey Misterio, Jr. at last year's Wrestlemania, and has held on to the Intercontinental Title for over six months. Big Show, on the other hand, just seems to be sort of languishing in the mid-card, despite the fact that he's still pretty over with WWE fans and is one of the company's bigger names.
Pardon the pun here, but Big Show just seems to be too big for the Intercontinental Title. He's a premiere player in WWE, and giving him a secondary title seems like a waste when he was just in hunt for World Championships. Remember, he was the World Heavyweight Champion for about two minutes at December's TLC event before Daniel Bryan cashed in his "Money in the Bank" briefcase. A win for Rhodes over Big Show on Sunday night could be the thing that propels the second-generation superstar to new heights, and I think that's the way WWE will go with this one.
SB Nation Minnesota prediction - Cody Rhodes by pinfall, retaining the Intercontinental Title