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WWE Superstar Gunther defeated Jey Uso on this week’s episode of RAW to reclaim the World Heavyweight Championship. With a new title run, come new challengers.
Here is a list of three wrestlers who would be worthy choices to dethrone The Ring General, and three wrestlers who would be the Austrian’s worst successors.
#3. Best - Sami Zayn has already dethroned Gunther once
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Sami Zayn was the first man to become Gunther’s kryptonite on the main roster. The OG Bloodline member defeated The Ring General at WrestleMania XL to win the Intercontinental Championship for the fourth time in his career. This also put an end to the Austrian’s record-setting 666 days as the IC Champ.
Zayn had later challenged Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship on an episode of RAW back in October 2024. This time, however, The Ring General prevailed and overcame the Canadian pro wrestler. Interestingly, while Gunther became the world champ once again on this week’s episode of RAW, Sami Zayn also won his qualifier for the King of the Ring Tournament,
Hence, there is a chance that he may eventually win the KOTR tournament and go on to challenge The Ring General at the 2025 SummerSlam in October, exactly a year after his previous title challenge match. Zayn dethroning the Austrian would be a great and believable booking decision and would finally put a world title on the shoulders of the OG Bloodline member.
#3. Worst - Jey Uso shouldn’t win the World Heavyweight Championship back
Riding the 'Yeet' wave, Jey Uso dethroned Gunther at WrestleMania 41 to win the first-ever singles world title in his career. While The Yeet Master did enjoy massive fan support, making The Ring General tap out in the match didn’t sit well with several fans, resulting in massive backlash.
This wasn’t the end of vitriol for the OG Bloodline member, whose World Heavyweight Championship run didn’t appease a big chunk of the WWE Universe. The biggest indicator of this was the fall in viewership of RAW on Netflix. Needless to say, this was one of the driving factors for Jey Uso to drop his belt in just two months to The Ring General on a red-branded episode instead of a premium live event.
Now, while the Austrian has become a two-time World Heavyweight Champion, Mr. Yeet would easily be one of the worst options to dethrone him. Especially since the fundamental problems of his moveset and in-ring dominance never got solved even after he became a world champ. Thus, making him a world titleholder again could backfire once more.
#2. Best - Seth Rollins is awaiting a cash-in
Seth Rollins emerged as the biggest winner at WrestleMania 41, defeating CM Punk and Roman Reigns in a Triple Threat, while also getting Paul Heyman on his side. The Visionary then built his alliance, recruiting Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed to ensure that his rule soon becomes absolute on WWE RAW.
Possibly adding the final piece to the new dawn he plans to bring, The Architect won the Money in the Bank contract. This puts Seth Rollins in the perfect position to become the World Heavyweight Champion once again. The Revolutionary has already used the MITB contract to earn his first-ever world title at WrestleMania 31 back in 2015.
He had pinned his former Shield brother, Roman Reigns, in his title match against Brock Lesnar to pull off “The Heist of the Century.” With the MITB briefcase in his hands again and his new alliance at his command, the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion should win the belt again by dethroning Gunther via another dramatic cash-in.
#2. Worst - Logan Paul versus Gunther should not involve a title change
Ahead of WWE RAW’s Netflix debut, Logan Paul had issued a challenge to Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship via social media. Responding to his challenge, The Ring General took the mic on the kickoff show of the red brand’s Netflix premiere, and said that he would be happy to slap the stupid smirk off Paul’s face.
While this development gained some traction, The Ring General’s focus was shifted to Jey Uso after his Royal Rumble win. The Maverick also got into a feud with AJ Styles, defeating the veteran at WrestleMania 41. Now, the Austrian is the World Heavyweight Champion once again, and Logan Paul could try to challenge him again.
Although the YouTube star has proved his in-ring excellence in his matches, he still lacks what it takes to defeat Gunther. Moreover, making Paul the World Heavyweight Champion at The Ring General’s expense would also result in fan backlash.
#1. Best - Drew McIntyre deserves a world title run
Drew McIntyre has inarguably been one of WWE’s biggest workhorses and performers for more than a year and a half. The Scottish Pychopath has made his way to WrestleMania XL after winning the 2024 Elimination Chamber.
His World Heavyweight Championship win against Seth Rollins didn’t last long, owing to CM Punk taking him out with a cheap shot. Damian Priest took advantage of the situation and cashed in his MITB contract to dethrone McIntyre. Refusing to give up, the Scotsman won the Money in the Bank contract last year to try to win the world title back.
However, Punk screwed him once again, making him lose out his MITB contract on the same night he won it, just like the World Heavyweight Championship. Following this, The Scottish Warrior got into a blockbuster feud with The Second City Saint, losing it 2-1 at Bad Blood 2024.
But this didn’t result in a fall in his momentum, as he kept delivering great promos and performing excellently in the ring. Right now, Drew McIntyre is on a hiatus following his steel cage match loss at Backlash 2025 against The Punisher.
However, upon his return, the Scotsman should be right back for the World Heavyweight Championship picture once again. With CM Punk and Damian Priest no longer haunting him, The Scottish Psychopath could believably dethrone Gunther to win the title and begin another excellent run. This time, with a world title around his waist.
#1. Worst - Goldberg should not defeat Gunther
WWE legend Bill Goldberg will soon be back on RAW. The Hall of Famer already has a rather personal beef against Gunther, who had insulted him in front of his family at Bad Blood 2024. While the former Universal Champion was stopped by security back then, he will now come for The Ring General with full force.
Right after the Austrian won the World Heavyweight Championship after beating Jey Uso this week, he appeared for a brief interview on the RAW Recap show. Namedropping Goldberg, the two-time world champ, said that people believed the legend would interfere in the match, or Seth Rollins may cash in his MITB contract on him. Explaining why it didn’t happen, he said that the big names don’t target him because they know how dominant he is.
Goldberg will most likely clap back at this mention and possibly challenge The Ring General for the World Heavyweight Championship. However, the Austrian should win the match and possibly retire the legend. Goldberg should be a milestone in Gunther’s second world title run, not his final destination.
