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When Gunther takes the ring on the Friday, September 8th edition of SmackDown, he will officially be the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion in WWE history… assuming he doesn't lose to Chad Gable first either on the Blue Brand or in a match booked for Payback the week before.
Standing pretty at 437 days with the strap and counting, Gunther has successfully defended his belt on 13 occasions against some of the best performers the WWE Universe has to offer, and through it all, the pride of Vienna, Austria, has helped to elevate his title to new heights, as for the much of his run, he was the only men's singles champion who defended his title with regularity on SmackDown.
Discussing what his IC Title reign means to his on Not Sam Wrestling with Sam Roberts, the “Ring General” let it be known that, in his opinion, it isn't the title that makes the man, but instead, the man that makes the title.
“It makes me very proud. It was the same with the NXT UK Title before. It was something where, okay, when I'm able to win a title, I'm going to make it the best run I possibly can make it,” Gunther sad va Fightful. “The one thing I believe in is that the title doesn't make the man, it's the man that makes the title. I really believe in that. Obviously, it makes me very proud because, like I said, when I was a child I watched Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, and whoever being the Intercontinental Champion. That I can be on some sort of list of whatever they have going on with the longest reigns and something with those guys. That's absolutely crazy, and I'm doing it my way. That's the fact that makes me the most proud. I adapted, I learned, I evolved, but I never changed what I think was right for me to do. That's the thing that makes me proud.”
While there have been some impressive Intercontinental Champions in WWE history, with “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart all coming into the conversations as the all-time greats, Gunther has a chance to surpass them all when he moves past The Honkey Tonk Man to become the longest-reigning title holder of all time. Not too shabby for a performer Vince McMahon wanted to beat over a year ago because he didn't get his gimmick.
Gunther has a surprisingly supportive take on comedy in wrestling.
As the “Ring General,” Gunther has a self-appointed duty to defend the glory and honor of “this great sport.” If a performer doesn't take wrestling seriously for one reason or another, even if that's simply a value judgment, Gunther will let them know, and more often than not, he comes out on top as a result, ‘
So naturally, one would assume that Gunther is not a fan of comedy wrestling, as it sort of flies in the face of the “wrestling as sport” philosophy that he's been championing for years, right? You would be surprised, as elsewhere in his interview with Sam Roberts, the “Ring General” let it be known that he's more than happy to see all sorts of variation across a wrestling card so long as it's treated seriously.
“It's how you use the things you do. That's the most important thing. I think a lot of wrestlers think about it too much as like, ‘I got to do this spectacular stuff, or this crazy maneuver to impress everybody,' like a regular strike won't get you that reaction or something like that. If you treat it like that from the beginning, and if you don't present it in a way that it's as important, it's never going to be received,” Gunther said via Fightful.
“Think back, Santino Marella got a hand in a sock over. It was a deadly weapon back then. He just used it like that. So I think that goes with a lot of things in wrestling. If you look at Sami Zayn's match with the Jackass crew, right? He just used whatever the Jackass crew had to offer. He just treated it as, ‘Okay, that's their offense.'”
Asked if he would wrestle in a comedy match, Gunther noted that he has in the past and gave a particular tip of the cap to DDT in Japan, as they treat comedy wrestling with a deft touch.
“I mean, we'll see what the future brings. I had a few occasions where I did something in my career that was a little bit out of this serious competitive wrestling stuff, and it usually worked really well. If it's done the right way, there's a place in time for almost everything in wrestling,” Gunther said. “Look at DDT in Japan; that promotion is a good example. They have all that goofy stuff happening throughout the show. Then, to finish off the show is a super serious World Championship match, and everybody treats it [properly]. Because it's just different styles and different forms of entertainment, really.”
Are WWE fans going to see Gunther in a comedy angle in WWE any time soon? Eh, probably not, but then again, if you recall back to his interactions with Uncle Truth last 4th of July – aka R-Truth in an Uncle Sam costume – in a way, he's already been there and done that.
