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After putting the “Legend Killer” to sleep in the main event of Bash in Berlin, it seemed like Gunther had his next challenger on lock in the form of CM Punk, who called the “Ring General” out both after the PLE and during a segment on RAW.
… but then a returning Drew McIntyre beat Punk up so badly that Adam Pearce had to call an ambulance, and suddenly, it doesn't look like “Best in the World” will be wrestling anyone any time soon.
Fortunately or not, depending on your opinion, Gunther didn't have to wait long to find his next challenger, as Sami Zayn, the only man to defeat the “Ring General” in singles action this year, decided to address the WWE World Heavyweight Champion head-on, letting him know that after securing the win at WrestleMania 40, the “Underdog from the Underground” is on the lookout to do the one thing that has eluded him so far in his WWE career: become a world champion.
Now, on paper, this is about as perfect a feud as Gunther could ask for, as Zayn is a fan favorite, the ultimate babyface underdog, and one of the few performers in the WWE Universe with a genuine claim for a World Heavyweight Championship match, with fans in Denver, Colorado celebrating the booking decision in the room. Granted, he probably won't win the darn thing, as Gunther has only held the title since for 31 days, which is a full 635 days shorter than his record-setting run with the Intercontinental Championship, but with Bad Blood over a month away, there's little reason to believe that Zayn can't produce compelling television over the next few weeks, as at this point, that's sort of the role Paul “Triple H” Levesque has him penciled in for regardless of the feud or role.
Will Zayn accomplish his dream of becoming the WWE World Heavyweight Champion come October? No, probably not, but much like with his matches against Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Gunther earlier this year, his job is to make fans believe he could regardless of the outcome, and with a month of television to tell his story, it's safe to say he and Gunther will do just that.
Gunther is confident WWE will return to Germany in the future
After securing what might just go down to the signature win of his WWE career thus far, Gunther was riding high, stopping by the Bash in Berlin post-show media scrum to talk about returning to his adoptive home for a massive win over Randy Orton in Germany.
While it's no secret that Gunther came up as part of the German scene before landing in WWE, the “Ring General” doesn't think local fans will have to wait too long to see him live and in living color once more, as he believes a return to Berlin has to be in the cards for the future.
“I don't get nervous. I'm blessed with it. I was very excited going out there today. Moments like today, and obviously everything today, there has been more pressure on me than ever before because WWE did the big event over here in Germany. It's never happened before. There was a little bit of a risk that the company took to do that. To be, more or less, the poster boy of all of that is a big responsibility. I worked my whole life to be in a situation like that,” Gunther told reporters via Fightful.
“The last thing I want to think about is being nervous. I was looking forward to that. For those 20-30 minutes out there, that's why we take all the struggles upon us. That's what I'm here to do. I was very excited going out there, and I was able to lose myself in the atmosphere and celebrate professional wrestling and WWE here in Germany. When it comes to WWE and Germany, I haven't heard anything, but I would be surprised if it ends here. It was a very strong statement, and I'm more than positive we will be back here.”
Now, as WWE pointed out on multiple occasions during Bash in Berlin, the last time the promotion ran any major show in the country was all the way back in 1997, when the company toured the country extensively behind the star power of local favorite Bret Hart. With Bash marking WWE's first-ever PLE in Germany, if Gunther remains a premier talent in the promotion, it's only a matter of time before he's fighting someone like Ilja Dragunov in the main event at one of the country's famous arenas.
