Austrian star Gunther is crowned King of the Ring in WWE and now reaches for the World Title – but the end of the match goes wrong
The WWE career of Austrian phenom Gunther has reached its next historic peak – marred by an unintentional mishap.
The heavyweight from Vienna won the traditional King of the Ring tournament at the major King & Queen of the Ring event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday evening. The 36-year-old defeated 14-time WWE and World Champion Randy Orton in the final to earn a match against the then reigning World Champion at SummerSlam. However, a blunder occurred in the final sequence of the match that appears to have upended the planned script for the summer climax.
Gunther makes WWE history again
In the final segment of the show match, Gunther defeated Orton with a so-called crucifix, a move where Gunther grabbed Orton’s arms with his arms and legs and pinned him to the mat.
However, the sequence failed and one of Orton’s shoulders did not even come close to touching the mat at the end. The referee counted to three anyway and called the match off – against WWE’s internal rules to let the match continue in such a case and improvise a finish other than a regularly staged one
GUNTHER IS UR NEW KING OF THE RING
BUT RANDY ORTON SHOULDER WAS UP WWEKINGANDQUEEN pic.twitter.com/ZP8jPDHOmW
– FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) May 25, 2024
The US commentators didn’t address the gaffe at first, before Corey Graves mentioned that he would like to see the scene again “from a different angle” – the first quasi-official hint that there will be a rematch to iron out the mistake.
Triple H speaks out
The hunch was confirmed after the event when WWE Chairman “Triple H” Paul Levesque – who had previously presented Gunther with the crown – spoke out in a video message, admitting the mistake and explaining that he too had seen “what everybody saw: Orton’s shoulder wasn’t down.”
Levesque explained that he would not overturn the decision, but held out the prospect of a rematch between Gunther and Orton. Gunther himself would also “want the footnote gone”, Levesque said – adding that Orton was banged up after the match and it seemed to be “another moment or two” before the rematch could take place.
Addressing the controversy around tonight’s King of the Ring Finals at WWEKingAndQueen.. pic.twitter.com/KRRfig4tsD
– Triple H (@TripleH) May 25, 2024
SummerSlam, where Gunther will compete for the World Title, will take place on August 3 in Cleveland. The “Ring General” will face the winner of a match scheduled for Saturday between reigning champion Damian Priest and former titleholder Drew McIntyre. The two will duel on June 15 at Clash at the Castle in McIntyre’s Scottish home, as WWE CEO “Triple H” Paul Levesque announced on Friday.
Gunther could become WWE’s first German-speaking World Champ at SummerSlam, and he has already reached another milestone – after his record 666-day reign as Intercontinental Champion: With his tournament victory, Gunther followed in the footsteps of legends like Harley Race, Bret and Owen Hart, Stone Cold Steve Austin and still active top stars like Edge and Brock Lesnar.
“At SummerSlam, I’m gonna become the World Heavyweight Champion”
After outlasting @RandyOrton to become King of the Ring, @Gunther_AUT now sets his sights on the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam! WWEKingAndQueen pic.twitter.com/PK629wTlMH
– WWE (@WWE) May 25, 2024
Nia Jax is Queen of the Ring, Liv Morgan dethrones Becky Lynch
In the main event of the big event in the Gulf, WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defeated social media superstar Logan Paul as expected, while Nia Jax was crowned the second Queen of the Ring, defeating surprise finalist Lyra Valkyria. Jax also gets a title match at SummerSlam against the current World Women’s Champion, Bayley.
SummerSlam is calling for Nia Jax WWEKingAndQueen pic.twitter.com/JWc171xAFV
– WWE (@WWE) May 25, 2024
There was a title change with exciting implications in the opening match of Jeddah on Friday: Becky Lynch somewhat surprisingly lost her World Women’s Title to Liv Morgan.
The title change was caused by Dominik Mysterio, the scripted friend of Morgan’s injured arch-rival Rhea Ripley. Mysterio brought a chair into play, which he apparently wanted to help Lynch with – but which Morgan then used to her advantage. It initially remained unclear whether the action would really turn out to be an accident or a conspiracy – which would probably mean the end of the successful Ripley / Mysterio pairing.
DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?!@YaOnlyLivvOnce beats @BeckyLynchWWE! She is the NEW Women’s World Champion WWEKingAndQueen pic.twitter.com/g7cYjCFvkD
– WWE (@WWE) May 25, 2024
No change in a three-way battle for the Intercontinental Title: Champion Sami Zayn defeated his challengers Chad Gable and Bronson Reed with a Helluva Kick to Reed
