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The next challenger for Gunther's Intercontinental Championship might be announced on this week's Friday Night SmackDown.
The Ring General defended his title against Sheamus in a brutal match at Clash at the Castle. He also introduced Imperium, his faction from NXT, by bringing Giovanni Vinci to partner with Ludwig Kaiser on the main roster. The trio defeated The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland and Butch) on last week's episode of the blue brand.
The Austrian has been a dominant champion ever since he defeated Ricochet for the title back in June. His title defense at Clash was lauded by the wrestling community.
Xero News on Twitter has now claimed that, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, the next challenger for the IC title will be announced this Friday on SmackDown.
"Source also had been told Gunther's next opponent will be revealed on Smackdown," Xero tweeted.
Fans have been clamoring for Gunther's next challenger to be revealed. Many want to see him take on The Celtic Warrior in a rematch of their modern classic from two weeks ago. Others want to see Sami Zayn challenge for the title, as he remains the last (honorary) member of The Bloodline without a belt.
Gunther recently commented on the possibility of getting his old name back
Gunther, formerly known as Walter, recently commented on the possibility of getting his old name back.
Walter was one of the most dominant champions in WWE's modern era, holding the NXT UK Championship for a staggering 870 days. His name was one of the many changes made when Vince McMahon was still the CEO of WWE.
Now that Triple H has taken over as Head of Creative in WWE, the likes of Tommaso Ciampa, Matt Riddle, and Austin Theory have gotten their full names back. The Intercontinental Champion commented on the possibility of reverting back to his old name in an interview with Inside The Ropes.
“I think it felt like a step up in general, compared to who I was before, and I wouldn’t want to take that away. I think progress is always something positive and not negative, and I think it would be more negative to be like, go back to who I was before. I’ve put a lot of work into being a new person, an updated version of myself, so I wouldn’t want to take that away.” [0:40-1:07]
It seems that this puts an end to the conversation. The current Intercontinental Champion will be known as Gunther for the forseeable future. However, it is said that anything can happen in WWE.
