Intercontinental Championship match set for TLC

We have our first official undercard championship match set for the upcoming Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view next month, and I’m actually pretty excited about this one. Kofi Kingston, the current Intercontinental Champion, will defend his title against the new #1 contender, Wade Barrett.

For the past few weeks, “The Barrett Barrage” has had Kingston’s number. Originally, the two faced off at the 26th annual Survivor Series, with Kingston as a member of Team Foley, and Barrett as a member of Team Ziggler. During the match, Barrett wound up eliminating Kingston with a vicious Bullhammer (his signature move) and getting the academic pin. The next night on RAW, the two faced off once more, but in a singles match this time. Barrett was once again victorious, targeting Kingston’s eye that had been injured the night before, courtesy of the Bullhammer.

This past week on Smackdown!, it was announced that Barrett would face whoever won in a championship match between Kingston and Damien Sandow, who had also defeated Kingston in non-title action recently. Kingston was victorious, getting the clean win on “The Intellectual Savior to the Masses” with a Trouble in Paradise to the face. This past Monday night on RAW, it was made official that Barrett would get his shot at the upcoming TLC event.

The reason I am looking forward to this match is there is some history here, and for once, WWE is acknowledging it. I’m not talking about the recent issues between the two, either; Barrett and Kingston actually feuded last year (back when Barrett led The Corre), and much like now, it was over Kingston’s IC title. Barrett himself acknowledged this while doing color commentary on Smackdown! last Friday night, pointing out that he did indeed defeat Kingston for that title a year ago, and Kingston has never gotten his win back. Every time they have fought in singles action since then (not counting house shows), Barrett has always had Kingston’s number, and he looks to continue that trend at TLC and pick up his second reign as Intercontinental Champion.

If you are not sure of the match I am talking about, I’m sure it’s on YouTube. It took place on an episode of Smackdown! last year, it was an awesome match, and still features one of the best/most creative finishing sequences I have ever seen. If you’ve seen it, you know what I am talking about. If not, it’s really a beautiful sequence that I have not seen anyone be able to duplicate. Who knows, maybe Barrett and Kingston can break it out again at TLC, or something similar.