WWE’s creative missteps failed Gunther as world heavyweight champion

WWE left so much on the table with Gunther’s World Title run.

He still made the most of everything he was given. His worst work is still better than most. pic.twitter.com/jzvFlL6zdP

— Pro Wrestling Finesse (@ProWFinesse) February 19, 2025

(https://x.com/ProWFinesse/status/1892274431361188130)

 

Gunther has been a world heavyweight champion for five months; however, his current run as champion hasn’t met expectations compared to his nearly two-year run as intercontinental champion.

Following WrestleMania 40, a plan was set in motion for Gunther as they continued to follow up on the strong momentum he created for himself during his time as the intercontinental champion.

He would win King Of The Ring in May, and about three months later, he captured the title by defeating Damien Priest – followed by a great first title defence against Randy Orton at Bash In Berlin.

They returned to the story of “The Ring General” (Gunther) vs Sami Zayn, with Gunther needing to regain the victory following his loss at WrestleMania.

However, WWE made the mistake of doing champion vs. champion back at Crown Jewel in November. With two strong champions trying to establish the WHC only a year into its infancy, one champion would look weaker.

This brings us to the current problem with his reign as champion; instead of winning the match, we saw WWE champion Cody Rhodes pin the world champion clean in the middle of the ring, which tells the product’s viewers that the world heavyweight championship is insignificant.

The decision to have Cody win was understandable, given that he is the face of the company and a massive star outside the ring. Still, it presented a complex problem of getting Gunther to dominate and have that presence in his intercontinental title run.

Rehashing matches and telling this story about wanting to win a match alone didn’t do him any favours and created a lack of interest. A lack of high-profile challengers and almost being put into the background have made this reign all-together quite disappointing.

The “Ring General” has made the best out of what he has to deal with, even when there were opportunities to run programmes with someone like Seth Rollins before he started mixing it up with CM Punk.

There was so much they could have done during this title reign, including many first-time feuds and matchups, but instead, they filled the air with repetition, which lost fans’ interest and hurt Gunther’s reputation.