Viennese wrestler extraordinaire Gunther enters the WWE history books on Monday Night RAW. It all looks like his career is about to get even bigger.
Bret “The Hitman” Hart, Ric Flair, Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels, The Ultimate Warrior, Pat Patterson, The Rock, Mr. Perfect, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Pedro Morales.
The list of legendary WWE stars that Austria phenom Gunther has surpassed as the holder of the Intercontinental Title, loaded with much glorious history, is long.
On the current edition of the TV show Monday Night RAW, the Viennese heavyweight defended his belt against former Olympic wrestler Chad Gable. So it is certain: this week he will become the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion in history.
And it all looks like even bigger achievements are in store for the 36-year-old.
Intercontinental Champion Gunther also overcomes Chad Gable
WWE staged the David-Goliath duel between Gunther and Gable as the main event of RAW – and had dramaturgically cleverly ramped up the tension in advance by having Gable defeat Gunther by count-out, inflicting the first singles defeat since his main roster call-up last year.
Again, the match story cleverly played with the alternative scenario of an underdog triumph, with Gunther dominating at will for more than half of the roughly 19-minute bout before Gable fought back with a series of powerful suplex throws and looked to be on the verge of a surprise defeat with the Ankle Lock adopted from role model Kurt Angle.
With a suplex of his own – which landed Gable over on his head – Gunther fought back at the end and then closed the bag with a powerbomb and the Clothesline variation lariat. Like the infamous Texan legend Stan “The Man” Hansen, Gunther is famous for executing simple moves so powerfully that they carry extra weight.
RAW ended with a victory celebration for the “Ring General”, who leads the Imperium grouping in WWE with his German companion Ludwig Kaiser and the South Tyrolean Giovanni Vinci. Parallel to this, a disappointed Gable and his crying daughter could be seen – it looks like WWE has more plans for Gable in the meantime.
The Honky Tonk Man is outclassed – what’s next?
For the moment, however, the spotlight belonged to Gunther, who has now held the title for 452 days and will now break the Honky Tonk Man’s record (454) in two days: The WWE Hall of Famer, who was billed as an evil Elvis impersonator, held the belt between 1987 and 1988, the reign ending at the first SummerSlam in 1988 with the famous match in which the up-and-coming Ultimate Warrior completely rolled over to the cheers of the fans.
The record-breaking reign is not Gunther’s first historic achievement in WWE: this year, Gunther (real name: Walter Hahn) already immortalised himself in the history books with his marathon performance at the Royal Rumble and the first major victory by a German-speaking star at the WrestleMania mega-show.
More milestones are likely to come, Gunther, who has become known outside WWE as WALTER, is held in the highest esteem. His no-frills style, yet reminiscent of icons like Hansen, Big Van Vader or the Japan legends Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi in its craftsmanship, force and brutality, delights connoisseurs. Creative director “Triple H” Paul Levesque praised him in the highest terms after WrestleMania and declared that there was “no limit to the top” for Gunther in WWE.
The seeds for future duels with top stars Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar have already been planted at the Rumble, it is looking increasingly likely that Gunther will become the first Austrian World Champion since the original “Big” Otto Wanz, who is known beyond wrestling, and the very first to do so in WWE.
