Gunther is an imposing force in the WWE Universe.

Since slimming down considerably from his days in NXT UK and cashing out his given first name, Walter, for a more menacing – and WWE copyright friends – moniker, the “Ring General” has been on a tear, winning the Intercontinental Championship from Ricochet on a June episode of SmackDown and recording a 25-0 record since according to Cagematch.

And yet, just because Gunther has chopped his way through every opponent who has come his way over the “Summer of Gunther” doesn't mean he couldn't use some backup heading into Clash at the Castle, where he was booked to brawl with Sheamus and his brutes, Ridge Holland and Pete “Butch” Dunn. No, with a clear numbers disadvantage, Gunther's assistant, Ludwig Kaiser, placed a call to an old friend and officially reunited Imperium inside the WWE Universe.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
Chad Gable with a text bubble reading "I trained you!" next to Sami Zayn with the RAW logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Cody Rhodes in a WWE ring next to the blacked-out silhouettes of Roman Reigns, Gunther, and Logan Paul with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Sami Zayn holding the Intercontinental Championship with the WrestleMania 40 logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

That's right, after trimming the faction down from four to three and then eventually just the two core performers, Giovanni Vinci officially made his UK Stadium “Premium Live Event” debut, where he brawled with Kaiser, Butch, and Holland before the match officially opened up – a pretty special moment considering many of the performers' history in NXT UK specifically and the wrestling scene of the British Isles as a whole.

While Imperium and the Brawling Brutes didn't play an impact in the actual layout of the match, as the quartet of auxiliary players were sent to the back before the bell rang, the return of Imperium, now decked out in black, provided just enough of an edge for Gunther to pull out the win over Sheamus and prevent him from becoming the Ultimate Grand Slam Champion of the WWE Universe.