The Honky Tonk Man
- Beginning Of His Reign: June 2, 1987 (Superstars Taping)
- End Of His Reign: August 29, 1988 (SummerSlam)
- Days Held: 454
- Number Of Televised Title Defenses: 23
The Honky Tonk Man held the Intercontinental Championship for 454 days – a record that would only be broken by Gunther more than three decades later! Brutus Beefcake was the number one contender heading into SummerSlam 1988… until Ron Bass destroyed him in a segment on television. Honky kept finding cheap ways to escape with his belt, and he was getting more arrogant than ever.
Honky was told he would have to defend the championship against a mystery opponent at the inaugural SummerSlam, but he didn’t care. That was the beginning of the end of his legendary reign. Once The Ultimate Warrior’s theme song started playing, the match was over – literally and figuratively! Warrior squashed Honky Tonk Man in less than a minute and left Madison Square Garden as the new Intercontinental Champion.
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