Gunther punishes current star after failure to defeat former champion on SmackDown

On this week's episode of WWE SmackDown, Intercontinental Champion Gunther punished his ally, Ludwig Kaiser, after the latter failed to win against Shinsuke Nakamura.

The Austrian was set to defend his Intercontinental Championship on the blue brand in an open challenge.

The Ring General cut a promo in the ring before the bout, stating that any champion who defends their title without knowing their opponent "is a fool." He added that he was going to destroy anyone who accepted his challenge, but they had to earn the opportunity to face him for the title.

Former United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura made his entrance and was seemingly going to answer the call, but he made a surprising decision. The King of Strong Style chose to face Ludwig Kaiser instead of Gunther. He stated that he would face the latter at a later date.

Nakamura defeated Kaiser via pinfall after hitting him with the Kinshasa. This means that we could get an Intercontinental Championship match between Gunther and The King of Strong Style star sometime in the near future.

The Ring General was furious that Kaiser lost the match, and as punishment, he gave him three vicious chops to the chest. WWE SummerSlam is only a few weeks away, and many fans would love to see the former NXT UK Champion take on Shinsuke Nakamura for the coveted title.

It will also be interesting to see whether there is a potential split between the former Imperium members following this week's events.