With just 33 days left before Gunther officially eclipses the Honkey Tonk Man as the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion in WWE history, it always felt like a longshot that Drew McIntyre would secure the win at SummerSlam. Sure, the show marked the first official year since Paul “Triple H” Levesque was in charge of the WWE book – minus a few Vince McMahon missteps – and thus it would have been cool to make some seriously big swings on the show, but as fans witnessed at WrestleMania, Hunter is far more focused on making history than short-term gains, and throwing away 422 days of Gunther's hard work for a McIntyre pop simply felt like a miscalculation.

But hey, just because McInyre knew his win was far from secured doesn't mean he couldn't give the “Ring General” something to remember him by, as, in his first Premium Live Event since WrestleMania, the “Scottish Warrior” delivered a classic, hard-hitting affair that was unquestionably the best match of the show up to that point.

Trading fists, chops, and even a few claymores in a bout designed about old-school grappling, McIntyre got Gunther into multiple near-falls for close 2 counts, but in the end, it wasn't meant to be; Gunther dug down deep, and with everything he had, he hit his once-and-future foe with a Powerbomb for a clean 1-2-3.

While McIntyre surely would have liked to have won the match and become a champion once more, this was the closest he's ever come to securing the win against the “Ring General” with the IC Title on the line, and if he's afforded another opportunity to take a shot at the champ, the results very well may be different… assuming it's been longer than 33 days.