The dominant reign of Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER continued this week after the Austrian retained against an unlikely opponent after SmackDown.
The February 9, 2024, episode of WWE SmackDown saw the blue brand deal with the fallout from the WrestleMania 40 kick-off press conference, and build toward WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth. The Men’s Elimination Chamber match will determine Seth Rollins’ WrestleMania opponent, as confirmed on SmackDown. Triple H was also on SmackDown and took several shots at The Rock given the Great One’s involvement with the WrestleMania kick-off press conference.
GUNTHER After SmackDown
In a post-show dark match, GUNTHER was ready to defend his WWE Intercontinental Championship. In an unlikely course of action, the Imperium leader faced R-Truth. At one point in the match, as seen in the video below, Truth used the signature ‘Five-Knuckle Shuffle’ from his childhood hero, John Cena.
Despite the popularity of the former WWE 24/7 Champion, it was GUNTHER who retained.
My man, @RonKillings takes out Gunther after dark match on #SmackDown . #WeWantTruth to go after Gunther and his historic IC title reign.
??: @MaseMakaveli_ pic.twitter.com/rCEC4ny2I6— ES Wrestling (@ESwrestling) February 10, 2024
This wasn’t Truth’s only appearance of the night. During a backstage segment, Truth spoke with Kevin Owens, who he mistook for The Miz. Given that Miz is a Raw Superstar, Truth warned Owens to not let ‘Nick’ catch him. Owens thought Truth was referring to the non-existent Nick Mysterio, but the veteran was more sensible than that and said he was referring to Nick Aldis.
What’s Next for GUNTHER?
Today marks day 610 of GUNTHER’s dominant reign as Intercontinental Champion. Should he hold on to the title for the rest of this month, he will break the record for the most combined days of anyone with the title. He already holds the record for the longest individual title run.
GUNTHER’s win wasn’t the only dark match at SmackDown…
