The year began with the Intercontinental Title up in the air. Both Chyna and Jericho had claim to the IC strap, after a double-pin. So Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, in charge of the WWF at the time, decided to have a little fun, naming both competitors (who at that point were hated rivals) co-Intercontinental Champions. This tired gimmick, luckily, didn't last a month.
Jericho won the title flat-out in a Triple Threat match at the Royal Rumble between himself, Chyna and Hardcore Holly on January 23rd. Chyna would then go on to help Jericho maintain his title, becoming his valet because of some mutual respect or something. Nothing much ever came of this relationship, which was a mis-match from the start.
Angle, already the European Champion, was climbing up the ranks as a heel when he challenged Y2J for the Intercontinental Title at No Way Out on February 27th. He then became the Euro-Continental Title, something that had never happened before. Well, except for D-Lo Brown, which according to Angle, didn't really count. Angle would head into his first Wrestlemania with double-gold.
Angle would leave Wrestlemania with no gold (and would not get another title until October 22nd), when he lost a Three-Way double title match with Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, despite never being pinned. Benoit wins his first WWF belt by defeating Y2J after Jericho defeated him earlier in the match.
After being disqualified against Benoit in April's Backlash PPV, Jericho defeated Benoit during Smackdown! on May 4th to become 3 time Intercontinental Champion. Despite his surging popularity, this is the last time in the year 2000 that Jericho will hold a title.
Jericho would then lead off the following Monday's Raw is War by challenging the authority of the McMahon/Helmsley Faction. This led to Vince McMahon guaranteeing that Y2J would lose his IC Title. McMahon then proceeded to set up Jericho in a match with Kurt Angle, which Jericho won. Then Kane, again Jericho wins. Then a re-match with Benoit and finally Jericho loses. Benoit would retain his title during a Submission Match against Jericho on Judgement Day later that month.
Rikishi Phatu, the happy-go-lucky dancing fool- not the run-you-over-with-a-car heel, defeated Benoit for the Intercontinental Title on June 22nd. The IC strap then became somewhat obscured, with lower-level 2nd tier guys competiting for the title. However, one memorable match during Rikishi's reign was a steel cage match against Val Venis, where Phatu Bonzia dropped Val from the top of the cage. Splat!
Val Venis would eventually defeat Rikishi, when Rikishi broke his foot, on July 6th. This helped Val cement his mid-card status, but almost looked like he was finally going somewhere. Val cut his hair, stopped the porn-star shtick (which was hilarious, but gimmicks only get you so far) and had a mean streak. Alas, his title reign did more for his sidekick, Trish Stratus, than it ever did for Val.
Just in time to promote her appearance in Playboy, Chyna defeated Val Venis with the help of her Latino Heat boyfriend, Eddie Guerrero, on August 27th, becoming 3 time Intercontinental Champion. Never a steady in-ring performer, Mamacita's other commitments kept this title-reign from lasting too long.
In a contrived triple-threat match against Val Venis, Eddie Guerrero went to the ring to "protect" his Mamacita, only to defeat her when he mounted her after she was knocked out. In his attempt to console Chyna, Guerrero pinned her and won the Intercontinental Title. The whole thing looked pretty dumb, but was the turning point in Guerrero's descent towards heel, which is a nice fit for him.
Billy Gunn made his return as "The One", and with Chyna at his side, vowed revenge on Guerrero for his treatment of his former fiancee. The One would get his revenge on November the 23rd episode of Smackdown! when he defeated Guerrero for the Intercontinental Championship, reasserting himself as a top second-tier performer in the WWF.
In what seems like a major step down for a man who has seemingly climbed to the upper-echelon in the WWF, Chris Benoit became 3 time Intercontinental Champion during Armageddon. The feud with Billy Gunn started with Gunn's defeat of Benoit's Radical running-buddy Eddie Guerrero, and while it may be a good for Gunn to fight Benoit, having a second-tier title can't be good for the Rabid Wolverine.