WWE Exclusive: Gunther says 'Intercontinental Championship is not top level', eyes big prize

The much-awaited WrestleMania season has hit the Wrestling realm once again. This year at the 40th anniversary of the Show of Shows, the primary story will be based around Cody Rhodes and WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns. It is a repeat of the WrestleMania 39 event, and this year it has been dubbed, will Cody be able to finish his history?

Cody vs Roman fight may raise the intrigue quotient of the WWE universe, especially when The Rock and WWE Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins are involved in the storyline. However, our focus is on the WWE's ring general, Gunther.

Gunther will enter the Grandest Stage of Them All, as the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion, and will vie to defend his title yet again. He will take on Sami Zayn at the event. Ahead of the WrestleMania XL, republicworld.com caught up with the protagonist himself and posed some relevant queries in front of Gunther. From questions related to Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns to his match against Sami Zayn, Gunther addressed each query and presented his thoughts.

Without further ado here are the excerpts from the entire conversation.

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Q. There were solid speculations that you were going to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XL but the match unfortunately isn't on the card, so, you vs Brock Lesnar, (an absolute dream match), was it planned to take place at the show of shows?

That, I can’t tell you. I am not the management. I think it would have been a realistic choice. But I can’t tell you, definitely not the plan anymore.

Q. Speaking of Brock Lesnar, where is he? When was the last time you heard from him?

I can’t tell you anything about that story. Like I said I am a wrestler, not the management. It was not like I had much to do with him before. So, I can’t you about the situation.

Q. The Rock and Roman Reigns are going to team up for the night one main event, I want you to answer the biggest pressing query in the world right now, do you think that The Rock will betray Roman Reigns at the Grandest Stage of them all? And will Cody Rhodes be able to finally finish the story?

I don't know, I can tell you that. That we can guess, right? I'll leave the guessing up to the audience I would say because that match is not much of my focus to be quite honest, because I am focused on what I get at WrestleMania, and I try not to pay too much attention to the rest, do not want to divert my attention. We as wrestlers, we are not in the luxurious position to be able to enjoy everything around us. It's my job now to focus on what I have to do to get the best out of that for our audience. I think I will watch it the day after or whenever I have time for it.

Q. In 2023, you defeated Sheamus and Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania and absolutely stole the show, from there it looked like you were going to move up the ladder and knock at world championship contenders spots, not it is eventually going to happen, but at WrestleMania XL you would be facing Sami Zayn. I am looking forward to the match, it's going to be absolutely amazing, but do you think it justifies your current stature?

Yeah, of course, I mean. First of all, it's clear that The Intercontinental Championship is not the top-level championship on Raw. There is a clear divide in that and that’s supposed to be. I was able to elevate it to newer heights I would think but it's still the Intercontinental championship. That being said, Sami Zayn is someone that main evented WrestleMania last year, and successfully won the tag team titles with Kevin Owens. So, when it comes to that, talking about my career, my stature, I think Sami Zayn is all power, at least he is longer in the company than I am. So, it’s a great opponent for me to Yeah! Defeat at the end and raise my own value even more. He is fantastic as a wrestler, he is fantastic in talking to the audience and connecting with them and he is very resilient and very vocal about his ideas, about what he thinks is right and what is wrong and that's why people connect with him. He is somebody that stands up for himself and I am usually used to think people that get intimidated by me at first glance but I think Sami is kind of like in his own world when it comes to that. He’s not as intimidated or not intimidated at all. I think, how long are we out 2-3 weeks to WrestleMania, that’s the time I could use to make sure he is intimidated when the bell rings. But yeah, I am very excited for it, I think it is going to be a fantastic match. When it just comes to the action of it, I think it's going to be high quality. Yeah, WrestleMania 40 is a big deal, It's all business in a new book period now. I think all over the world where I, where I see it, where I talk to people, specially from Europe, it's really picking up there right now again, and being on that card in that position, WrestleMania 40 during the time is very exciting and it is also big responsibility so I am looking forward to that, I am going to see it as a challenge to add to my own legacy.

On giving Sami Zayn props for what he has achieved, and showcasing a different persona

I mean you got to give credit where credit is due but at the end of the day I am not forgetting who I am and not my qualities, I think a rational approach to the business and the matches I have is what’s most effective for me. That's the thing a lot of my colleagues get carried away with. There are emotions, they can do that, good for them, enjoy it, I stay focused.

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Q. You are known for your long reigning streaks, you have one going right now, you had an extraordinary one in Japan, then everybody knows the 870day reign as the NXT UK champion, which was surpassed by Roman Reigns, so when are you taking your revenge against Reigns? When are we going to witness the Ring General vs The Tribal Chief?

I think much down the line that a match should happen, it will be very interesting. I think right now, don’t think there is any revenge added. He is doing his thing and I think he is very involved, heavily involved in the whole, his title reign, his record his undeniable and he is going to the main event of WrestleMania again. I am not good with numbers and stuff but he has done it more often than anybody so that speaks for himself. I think we are two very different things right now and whenever he’s freed up, I think down the line it is going to be an interesting match.

*Watch WWE Wrestlemania 40 on 7th & 8th April 2024 from 4:30 AM IST onwards, LIVE on Sony Sports Ten 1 SD & HD and Sony Sports Ten 3 SD & HD (Hindi) & Sony Sports Ten 4 SD & HD (Tamil & Telugu).