WWE WrestleMania: 4 Finishes for IC Championship Match
WWE WrestleMania 39 is taking place on April 1st and April 2nd at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The Intercontinental Championship will be on the line as Gunther defends the title against Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a triple-threat match.
If earlier matches between Gunther and Sheamus are any indication, this match promises to be one of the more physical matches of the weekend and has the potential to rank as one of the best. WWE has done a nice job not only building Gunther's credibility as a champion but also the rift between McIntyre and Sheamus.
The following article outlines five potential finishes for the match. As usual, WrestleMania serves as a springboard for storylines that will play out in the coming months, so it will be interesting to see the direction the creative team decides to go in.
1. Gunther dominates and retains the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Prior to Gunther winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship on June 10, 2022, the title did not have much credibility. The Championship was primarily seen as a secondary title, mainly held by mid-card and lower-card talent. Gunther gained a lot of credibility as the champion of the NXT UK brand. He has now given the Intercontinental Championship a new life and re-established it as a major title.
Within this context and continuing to prepare Gunther for a main event level push where he challenges for the top championship, WrestleMania could see him retain the title in a dominant fashion and continue his run with the title to become the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion, a record currently held by The Honky Tonk Man at 454 days.
2. Drew McIntyre turns heel
Banger #Smackdown https://t.co/Kjir7GLwxL
Since losing the WWE Championship to The Miz in 2021, Drew McIntyre has come close to regaining the top spot several times only to fall short. It is possible that at WrestleMania, Drew could become frustrated with always doing things the right way and gaining no gold.
In this scenario, Drew would take a shortcut and turn on Sheamus to win the title. This would protect Gunther as he would not take the pin and re-launch the Sheamus/McIntyre feud, but this time with the roles reversed.
3. The Brawling Brutes turn on Sheamus
Throughout the build-up to this match, Sheamus was flanked by his faction members Ridge Holland and Butch, also known as the Brawling Brutes. With recent rumors that Butch was going to go back to his previous name and gimmick as Pete Dunne, there is a possibility that WrestleMania could see a starting point for that change.
Naturally, this could involve all three members turning heel with Sheamus winning the title, but another scenario sees Dunne and Holland turning on Sheamus and breaking away from the group. Should this happen, either McIntyre or Gunther could win the match, but the story would be the breakup of the group.
4. Imperium implodes
.@CodyRhodes looks to keep his momentum on The Road to #WrestleMania when he goes one-on-one with #Imperium's @wwe_kaiser.
#SmackDown https://t.co/35ceQasqr9
This is not a likely outcome, but in the past, the creative team has presented situations where Gunther has become frustrated and sometimes physical with Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci. These instances could be seen as planting the seeds for the team to double-cross Gunther and cost him the title.