Fans in the arena for this week’s episode of SmackDown got to witness a dream match between two wrestling veterans after the show went off air.
The main event of this week’s episode of the Blue Branded Show saw Drew McIntyre teaming up with Kevin Owens and Johnny Gargano for a six men tag team match.
These three faced the team of Austin Theory and The Alpha Academy. McIntyre delivered a Claymore to Theory to pick up the victory for his team. The show ended with Drew hitting Theory with a leather strap.
What Happened After SmackDown
While the cameras stopped rolling after this, the action didn’t stop. WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther came out to defend his title in a dark match.
He faced wrestling veteran Shinsuke Nakamura in a singles match. Gunther won the bout to retain his title but Nakamura delivered a Kinshasa at the end to send the crowd home happy.
@sherantsmtl And that's the last one, Gunther wins, but Nakamura does a Kinshasa to clear him out, and that's a goodnight for everyone. pic.twitter.com/AGtL7aTzng
This is the second time in two weeks that Nakamura and Gunther have come face to face. They were on the opposite side of a dark tag match on last week’s episode of the show.
The former NXT UK champion is currently engaged in a feud with Sheamus. This might be an indication of what’s next for him once he has dealt with the Celtic Warrior.
Posted September 30th, 2022 in WWE, News. Tagged: Gunther.
Imperium and the Brawling Brutes will look to settle the score next Saturday when the two factions meet in a Good Old Fashion Donnybrook match at WWE Extreme Rules 2022.
The no-disqualification match was confirmed on WWE.com and on social media, after weeks of the two sides feuding.
Imperium Vs. The Brawling Brutes
The two teams have been at odds for some time, with Imperium reuniting at Clash at the Castle 2022.
At the Cardiff, Wales event, GUNTHER retained the Intercontinental Championship against Sheamus in a critically-acclaimed match.
Imperium once again stood tall over the Brawling Brutes in a Six-Man Tag Team Match on the September 9, edition of SmackDown.
After Butch and Ridge Holland defeated three-other teams (including Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci) to earn a shot at The Usos, Imperium attacked them, costing them the Undisputed WWE Tag Team title match.
On the SmackDown before WWE Extreme Rules, Sheamus will once again challenge GUNTHER for the Intercontinental Championship.
Extreme Rules
The Donnybrook match is just the latest addition to a stacked WWE Extreme Rules 2022 card, which will see several stipulations.
Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair will defend her title against Bayley in a ladder match, the first singles ladder match in WWE Women’s history.
Drew McIntyre will take on Karrion Kross in a strap match, while Matt Riddle and Seth Rollins will square off inside the Fight Pit.
The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor will take on former leader Edge in an I-Quit match.
After the main event match between The Usos and Brawling Brutes on this week’s episode of SmackDown, fans in attendance got to witness another big dream confrontation.
The off air dark match after this week’s SmackDown saw Gunther coming face to face with Shinsuke Nakamura as they competed in a six-man tag team match.
The bout saw The Street Profits joining the Japanese legend in his fight against the current IC Champion and his subordinates Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci.
Gunther teased a confrontation with Nakamura early in the bout but he ultimately decided to tag himself out and send in Vinci instead.
He attacked Shinsuke towards the ending of the match but the former champion managed to get the upper hand over the Ring General.
The SmackDown dark match concluded with Shinsuke Nakamura delivering a Kinshasa to Ludwig Kaiser and pinning him for the victory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4mS7wPzlpI
Shinsuke Nakamura was part of a backstage segment on this week’s SmackDown alongside Hit Row and The Street Profits.
Gunther has been feuding with Sheamus recently over the Intercontinental championship. The two delivered an impressive match at Clash At The Castle.
WWE has since announced a rematch between these two for the season premiere episode of SmackDown on October 7.
Imperium was back together as Giovanni Vinci was with Gunther and Ludwig as Gunther made his first defense as the WWE Intercontinental Champion against Sehamus at Saturday’s WWE Clash at the Castle event from Cardiff, Wales.
When WWE NXT was changed to the 2.0 brand, Fabian Aichner became Vinci and was given a different character. Gunther and Ludwig went to the main roster. However, Triple H has now put them back together.
The match was hard-hitting, as expected, with both guys having bruises on their bodies. At one point, Gunther avoided the Brogue Kick and hit a drop kick. Gunther with a powerbomb for 2. Gunther went over with a lariat.
Sheamus won over Ricochet, Sami Zayn, Madcap Moss, and Happy Corbin on a recent edition of SmackDown to qualify for a crack at Gunther’s Intercontinental championship.
Zayn, who was competing in his hometown, was injured after taking white noise from Sheamus off the top rope and was forced to leave the ring. He hit a kick, came back, and tried to pin Ricochet. By taking Zayn outside the ring, Corbin interrupted the count. Corbin attempted to pin Ricochet during the finish, but Sheamus stepped in and delivered the winning brogue kick on Corbin.
Posted September 3rd, 2022 in WWE, News. Tagged: Gunther.
In April this year, Gunther (formerly WALTER) was called up to WWE’s main roster after a dominant run in NXT UK and NXT.
Just two months after his call-up, Gunther captured the Intercontinental Championship from Ricochet, his first title on the main roster.
Ricochet, Drew Gulak and Shinsuke Nakamura have all been beaten since Gunther arrived on the main roster.
Avoiding a Burial
From the outlook, it’d seem like Gunther has had a lot of support on WWE’s main roster, but that wasn’t the case up until recently.
Wrestle Votes reports that WWE’s previous regime had “soured” on the Austrian Superstar following his appearance on the July 4, 2022, edition of Monday Night Raw.
That episode saw Gunther, alongside Ludwig Kaiser, interrupt R-Truth during an independence day celebration and destroy the former 24/7 Champion.
Wrestle Votes adds that WWE had plans for Gunther to be buried on TV, and noted that the past month and change of regime has made a ton of difference.
Following his appearance on RAW on 7/4, those in power at the time really soured on Gunther for whatever ridiculous reason. To the point where a burial on TV was coming. Just a month later and quite the difference…
Thanks to WWE’s change of regime and Vince McMahon’s retirement, Gunther has remained booked well and has kept his Intercontinental Championship.
On this week’s SmackDown, the Austrian powerhouse retained his title against Shinsuke Nakamura.
At this time, Gunther hasn’t been booked for WWE’s next major event Clash at the Castle, which will air from Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on September 3.
Although Gunther initially didn’t want to move to the United States full-time when he signed with WWE for the NXT UK brand, he has found a lot of success on the WWE main roster.
Gunther is now on SmackDown as the Intercontinental Champion, and is looked at a future World Champion. Now that he’s on the main roster, it opens up a new page of dream matches for him that were previously considered impossible.
While speaking with Sports Illustrated, Gunther discussed wanting to give the Intercontinental Championship it’s prestige back. He also expressed interest in wrestling John Cena.
“I am going to give this title the prestige it needs and make it the greatest prize in wrestling. I would like to wrestle John Cena and anyone else who is considered elite. I didn’t come here to be mediocre. I came here to be in the ring with the best.”
Gunther is currently in a storyline with Shinsuke Nakamura with many expecting a match to take place at last Saturday’s SummerSlam. That didn’t happen, but it’s possible the bout is saved for Clash at the Castle on September 3rd.
Gunther signed with WWE in 2019 and helped put the NXT UK brand on the map with his 800+ days long reign as the NXT UK champion. He then had a short run in NXT 2.0 before being called up to the main roster in April this year.
The former NXT UK star appeared on Out of Character podcast recently. He discussed the difference between the behind-the-scene environment of NXT and main roster. The Intercontinental champion claimed that things are more ‘relaxed’ on the main roster:
“I think at the end of the day when it comes to what happens in the ring, wrestling is wrestling. For me at least it doesn’t matter if it’s in front of 50 people or if it’s in front of 20,000 people. Obviously [the major] difference is all the happenings around it. there are way more people involved [in the main roster]. A lot more stuff has to happen in a shorter amount of time.
It’s not too different, but it’s obviously just NXT is a little bit [more] strict and organized.” said Gunther, “Because the people involved are less experienced, I will say, like the talent and stuff. While it’s a little bit more relaxed I would call it on SmackDown in my experience. Everybody’s way more experienced and can get all the stuff done. Like tick, tick, tick, tick, one after the other. Everything has its little routine. It’s a little bit more relaxed in terms of nobody’s really tensed or freaked out about what they have to do. “
It’s pretty well known that Gunther did not want to move to America for a long time. According to the WWE star himself, it was also about timing things right to make himself stand out.
The current Intercontinental Champion recently appeared on Ryan Satin’s Out of Character podcast. Speaking about his decision to move continents, Gunther discussed how he still prefers the European lifestyle. He then talked about how he started back in 2005 and saw the wrestling landscape change:
“I think I started in 2005, looking back at the steps wrestling made [since then], like changing and developing. Then out of nowhere the gates were open for so many young wrestlers from Europe to actually go to WWE or wrestle other places and be seen and be successful.” said Gunther, “It felt a little bit like a gold rush.
He continued: “So everybody obviously just jumped on every opportunity they had. Sometimes it’s better to just wait things out and wait out the timing a little bit. I always felt like if everybody moves to America at the same time, it’s not gonna be as special when I do it. It was always clear to me that it will happen at some point but I tried to time it as good as possible for myself.”
The WWE Intercontinental Championship has a long history. It was the title that served as a stepping stone for men like The Ultimate Warrior, The Rock, and Triple H to eventually win world titles. That’s in addition to men like Tito Santana, The Honky Tonk Man, and Don Muraco thriving as Intercontinental Champions in their own right.
The title has suffered from inconsistent booking over the years, though, and particularly as of late it has seemed like an afterthought. Champs like Shinsuke Nakamaura, Apollo Crews, and Ricochet—despite their considerable talent—weren’t booked to do anything of note during their reigns. Gunther won the title IC strap on last week’s SmackDown.
More than a simple instance of a title changing hands, this one might represent much more. Gunther may well be the perfect man to restore the title to its past glory.
Gunther Can Work Great Matches
One of the cornerstones of Intercontinental Championship history was that it was title great matches got built around. Particularly in eras when the main event picture was more consumed with showmanship and star power than technical precision, this was the workers’ title.
It set up absolute classics like Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania 3, Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect or The British Bulldog at back-to-back years of SummerSlam, or the first Ladder Match WWE ever broadcasted live at WrestleMania 10, between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon.
Gunther represents an opportunity to return to that tradition. He’s a stiff, polished worker and one need look no further than his NXT UK efforts opposite Butch or Ilja Dragunov to see the kind of instant classics he can deliver, in particular opposite a tough, smaller opponent.
Gunther hinted at what he was capable of when he took the title from Ricochet, and it would be a pleasure to see him actively defend the title in matches like that over the months ahead.
Gunther Seems To Have Earned Management’s Respect
There’s not shortage of talents who’ve done well in WWE’s developmental system but flopped when they got to the main roster. On paper, Gunther is exactly the kind of talent most at risk of suffering a similar fate, given his indie and international pedigree, complete with a focus on stiff offense and technique over playing a colorful character. However, he has been presented as a dominant force in this main roster run so far, up to and including winning the Intercontinental Championship.
A part of why Gunther might have earned management’s respect and admiration is his adaptability. The big man was purportedly not willing to base his career in the US when he first signed on to work with NXT UK. He has changed his mind since that time, though. Moreover, reports suggested management asked him to get more visibly cut to consider him for a main roster run. Gunther delivered.
While his work rate and cardio probably weren’t ever in question, he nonetheless has made major strides in looking like a more traditionally ripped WWE Superstar leading up to his introduction to the SmackDown roster. All of these factors bode quite well for his long-term prospects.
Gunther Is Still New To The WWE Main Roster
Though hardcore fans may have followed Gunther for quite some time, he only got his formal call up to the WWE main roster this past April. Yes, he put over Ilja Dragunov in NXT UK and Bron Breakker in NXT 2.0. That’s not to mention his early elimination from inter-branded Survivor Series in 2019.
Still, in the eyes of the more casual fan, his record remains mostly clean, and having Ludwig Kaiser in his corner offers him a credible sidekick he has already built strong chemistry with. Without the baggage of ever looking like a jobber or someone relegated to the tag team division, the sky’s the limit for what Gunther might accomplish in WWE.
So it is that Gunther arrives as Intercontinental Champion with a noteworthy combination of credibility and optimism for what he might become. Nothing is guaranteed. Nonetheless, at this point he feels like he could the one to reinvent the tradition of the fighting Intercontinental Champion who elevates the title every bit as much as it elevates him across a series of great matches, en route to an eventual main event destiny.
It has been a while since WWE has given its fans much reason to get invested in the Intercontinental title or the person holding it. Between his talent, management’s support, and his bright future, Gunther just might be the man to make this championship prestigious again.
During the June 10 episode of WWE SmackDown, Gunther challenged Ricochet for the IC gold. The action was held inside the Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge, LA.
As expected, Gunther ended up defeating Ricochet to become the new WWE Intercontinental Champion.
Sheamus Warns Gunther
(via WWE)
Never one to back down from a fight, Sheamus of The Brawling Brutes has taken to his Twitter account to remind Gunther that he has a target on his back.
Stylistically, Gunther vs. Sheamus would be as hard-hitting as they come in terms of WWE matches. Both men know how to make their matches seem like a real fight so it definitely wouldn’t be a pretty encounter.
Of course, both wrestlers are heels on the SmackDown brand so a match between the two is unlikely for now.
Sheamus has once again found himself feuding with Drew McIntyre. The two were in a Money in the Bank qualifier but both men were counted out.
As for Gunther, things seem to be looking up for him. It was recently reported that WWE officials have been impressed by him since making the move to the main roster.
Gunther has dethroned Ricochet as the WWE Intercontinental Champion as he won the title from him on Friday’s episode of SmackDown.
The match took place in the second hour and featured Ricochet trying to avoid the big power shots of Gunther. Ricochet tried to make a comeback but was cut down by a powerbomb for the finish.
Gunther finished up his short run in NXT on April 5th by losing to NXT Champion Bron Breakker. While in NXT UK, he was the NXT UK Champion for 870 days as he held it from 2019 through 2021.
Since making his SmackDown debut in April, Gunther has been booked strongly. In recent weeks, he crossed paths with Ricochet after the former champion came to the aid of Drew Gulak.
When WALTER went through the major name change, WWE received backlash over it. WWE abandoned its trademark filing on the original name, Gunther Stark because there was a person with the same name who severed as a Nazi Germany military commander during World War II.
As previously reported, Vince McMahon is high on Gunther’s in-ring work and he has impressed people of influence in WWE for many things including being willing to play ball by losing weight, changing his name, and handling the Imperium split in a positive way.
It appears one WWE SmackDown superstar has left a good impression on key company officials.
It’s no secret that WWE is in need of some stars. Roman Reigns, the company’s top dog, has taken a reduced schedule thanks to a new deal. Cody Rhodes is out of action for several months due to a torn right pec.
In particular, however, the SmackDown roster has been depleted but there’s one emerging star who seems to have impressed the movers and shakers under Vince McMahon’s empire.
Gunther Makes Good Impression
(WWE)
Fightful is reporting that Gunther has looked stellar in the eyes of “people of influence” within WWE.
It may explain why the man long known as “WALTER” is already receiving a WWE Intercontinental Title shot early in his main roster run.
He’ll be challenging Ricochet for the gold on the June 10 episode of SmackDown.
Gunther made significant changes to his body in preparation for a main roster callup. The former NXT UK Champion also moved to the United States. He insisted that WWE never pressured him to move, rather he felt it was something that was long overdue.
It was said in the report that Gunther’s dedication is why he’s gained a strong reputation with WWE officials.
WWE has made a small alteration to the name of a SmackDown talent.
The company introduced Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser to the main roster back in April. Kaiser has served as Gunther’s manager.
WWE has already made a change to Kaiser’s first name but it’s quite minor.
Instead of “Ludwig,” he’ll now be referred to as Ludvig Kaiser. The switch has been spotted on the WWE.com roster page.
This is perhaps the least egregious WWE name change we’ve seen in some time. The company has been known to make drastic changes to how characters are named when called up from the NXT brand.
Gunther is actually a prime example. He had gone by his real name, Walter, on the indies and on NXT before being called up to the SmackDown roster.
The good news for fans of Gunther is that his character and in-ring presence have remained the same.
It seems WWE is gearing up for a program with Gunther and WWE Intercontinental Champion Ricochet.
The last few months have brought a lot of change for Gunther. He has finally moved to US, made his main roster debut, and parted ways with one of his old partners.
Apart from the former NXT UK champion, The Imperium group also featured Fabian Aichner and Barthel. However, Aichner was not called up when the other two made their debuts on SmackDown last month.
Gunther talked about this change during a recent interview with Cultaholic Wrestling. He admitted that he has no idea about what’s going on with Aichner
“I literally don’t know, Obviously, for him and Ludwig, it was a little bit of a rough few days. Because they worked so hard together for so many years and stuff like that. Now everyone has to go their own way a little bit. But you’ve got to look forward and stay positive about things.”
The former champion also noted how this is a challenge for all three of the former Imperium members. He claimed that the end goal is for them to reunite somewhere down the line:
“It’s a new challenge for Ludwig and me. But also for Fabian, it’s going to be a new challenge with whatever he is going to do going forward. But, I guess the end goal is that it’s going to be three of us again.”
Gunther is the longest-reigning NXT UK champion in the history of the brand. He made his main roster debut during the April 8 episode of SmackDown.
Gunther, formerly known as Walter, is now part of the WWE SmackDown brand. On Friday’s SmackDown, Gunther beat a local wrestler, Joe Alonso, with Marcel Barthel by his side, renamed Ludwig Kaiser.
It was reported earlier this week that there had been internal discussions about moving Gunther to SmackDown alongside Barthel, but not Fabian Aichner.
Once Gunther moved to the United States, WWE had plans to bring him to the main roster.
This would explain why Gunther was booked to lose to NXT Champion Bron Breakker in the main event of Tuesday’s NXT. Aichner and Barthel dropped the NXT Tag Team Titles in a triple threat match to MSK this past Saturday at Stand & Deliver.
Watch Gunther’s WWE SmackDown debut:
WWE Name Changes
The name change for Barthel is a Vince McMahon decision as he likes to change wrestlers’ names and ignore their past accomplishments in NXT.
WWE has changed the name of many former NXT stars, including Pete Dunne, who was renamed to Butch. They’ve also done it with Mia Yim to Reckoning, Dijakovic to T-Bar, Piper Niven to Doudrop, and Chelsea Green was supposed to be named Victorious before she was injured.
WALTER built up his name over several years prior to getting to WWE and while with the NXT UK brand, he became the longest-reigning NXT UK Champion in history.
Earlier this year, WALTER went through a major name change and is now going by Gunther. WWE abandoned its trademark filing on the original name, Gunther Stark, once WWE received backlash over it. If you do a Google search, it reveals there was a person with the same name who severed as a Nazi Germany military commander during World War II.
Gunther admitted in a new interview that the name change did not bother him at all.
“Not all to be honest,” Gunther told Wrestling Inc. “If it would be the other way around, and it would be Gunther before and WALTER now, it would have been the same uproar. A lot of people react negatively to change. Change is normal in life, and it’s part of it, and we have to go with it.”
The NXT 2.0 star confirmed he is now based in America. At Saturday’s NXT Stand & Deliver special, Gunther beat LA Knight in a quick singles match.
One WWE legend doubts that the name change from WALTER to Gunther will cause any issues in the long run.
Fans were up in arms with WWE’s decision to change WALTER’s name now that he will be a regular on WWE TV outside of NXT UK. He now goes by the name Gunther. WWE found themselves in hot water for trademarking the name “Gunther Stark” as that is the name of a known Nazi.
Taking to his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T said that being called Gunther shouldn’t hurt WALTER’s stock.
“Three months ago maybe with Steiner and Breakker and now, do anybody think about Bron Breakker now? Is anybody thinking about it? Everybody’s talking about how freakin’ awesome Bron Breakker is.
“That’s the only thing I hear now. Now, of course, WALTER is his real name. Of course, that may cause some kind of conflict from a logistic perspective, I don’t know. Changing his name, I don’t think that’s something that’s gonna hinder him or hurt him in any way when he goes out there and performs in the middle of the ring.
“I think people will forget it soon.”
WWE is known for changing names of established independent and international talent before they make it to the main roster. There are exceptions such as AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Ricochet.
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“Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibitions and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer rendered live and through broadcast media including television and radio, and via the internet or commercial online service.”
Unfortunately, Günther Stark was the name of a German U-boat Commander during World War II. This ignited a firestorm of controversy, with WWE getting global headlines for the gaffe.
At the conclusion of Tuesday’s NXT 2.0 broadcast, NXT star WALTER announced his new name as Gunther. WWE stopped short of using the Stark name and is now cutting bait entirely.
WALTER is now Gunther
WWE has reportedly abandoned the trademark application for Gunther Stark. The USPTO database now lists the application as “DEAD/APPLICATION/Withdrawn/Abandoned.”
Posted January 20th, 2022 in WWE, News. Tagged: Gunther.
