Gunther teases potential roster move following recent WWE title loss
The longest WWE Intercontinental Championship reign in history came to an end at WrestleMania XL as Sami Zayn finally defeated Gunther. The Imperium leader waited weeks to return, but when he did, he thanked the new champion for making him the hunter for a change.
Gunther went on to declare his spot for the King of the Ring Tournament and promised to hunt any champion if he wanted their title. He then caused the implosion of Imperium as Ludwig Kaiser booted Giovanni Vinci from the faction. Gunther, Kaiser, and Vinci are all in the Draft talent pool for Monday's RAW.
The Ring General took to social media tonight to tease a potential roster move. Gunther's simple three-word poll has led to dozens of replies on X and Instagram.
"Smackdown or RAW ?" Gunther wrote.
While Gunther has not wrestled on TV since Night 1 of WrestleMania XL, he did work four non-televised live events on the UK mini-tour earlier this month. All four shows saw Zayn retain the Intercontinental Championship in a Fatal 4 Way that also included Chad Gable and Finn Balor.
Gunther has major praise for WWE Superstar
The 2024 WWE Draft will wrap up on Monday's RAW. NXT Superstars will be eligible, as they were on Night 1, and Ilja Dragunov is heavily rumored to be called up to the main roster.
Two names were considered to be "locks" for main roster call-ups going into the WWE Draft: Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes. Friday's SmackDown saw the blue brand select Hayes as the third overall pick of the 1st round.
Gunther and Dragunov are very familiar with each other. The Ring General and The Mad Dragon fought numerous times before joining WWE, and then famously had a 25-minute TV match on October 29, 2020, where the Imperium leader retained the NXT UK Championship. The 22-minute rematch was just as big, with Dragunov winning the title at TakeOver 36 on August 22, 2021.
Speaking to Gorilla Nation, Gunther praised Dragunov ahead of the Draft and referenced his recent RAW win over Shinsuke Nakamura.
"I think somebody that will do great going forward is Ilja [Dragunov]. I think that's somebody waiting to explode right now. He just wrestled on RAW. The Draft is coming up. So, let's see (...) I think he would be the guy that I would single out right now that performs at this stage that he is almost too advanced for," Gunther said. [From 24:38 to 25:05]
Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser recently kicked Giovanni Vinci out of Imperium. Fans have speculated on Dragunov potentially joining Imperium as the third man, and Gunther addressed these rumors publicly.