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Sami Zayn defeated Gunther at WrestleMania XL to end The Ring General's 666-day tenure as WWE Intercontinental Champion. While some have criticized how the record-setting title reign concluded, WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long had no problem with the polarizing booking decision.
Gunther captured the Intercontinental Championship from Ricochet on the June 10, 2022, episode of SmackDown. The Austrian went on to break The Honky Tonk Man's long-standing title record during his 22 months as champion. He also competed in memorable matches against superstars like Chad Gable, Drew McIntyre, and Sheamus.
Long appeared on the latest episode of Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine with host Mac Davis. When Davis said Gable should have been the one to dethrone Gunther, Long defended Zayn and offered the a light-hearted response.
"Well, that's how you feel, and we don't care how you feel!" said Long. [7:17 – 7:21]
Long compared Gunther to Superman, explaining that Zayn turned out to be the 36-year-old's kryptonite.
"They [Gunther's past challengers] don't mean nothing. They're just a name. Okay, Superman was just a name, but Kryptonite put him down," added Long. [8:13 – 8:25]
Watch the video above to hear Teddy Long's reaction to the Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso match at WrestleMania XL.
Sami Zayn was not Gunther's original opponent
Brock Lesnar was allegedly supposed to face Gunther at WrestleMania XL instead of Sami Zayn. However, plans for The Beast Incarnate to return to WWE were seemingly nixed due to his involvement in Janel Grant's lawsuit against Vince McMahon, and Zayn was hastily incorporated into the storyline.
Although Mac Davis thought Gunther vs. Sami Zayn was a good match, he believes Lesnar would have been another beast altogether and would have loved to watch the "two behemoths" go against each other.
"I think Gunther's original play for the WrestleMania pay-per-view was supposed to be Brock Lesnar. I have a feeling that's where they were gonna go and it just didn't happen, so they had to kinda backtrack and do something really fast, which is why the story came together the way it did, but I would have loved to have seen those two behemoths going against each other because I like seeing some of these big strong guys just beat the hell out of one another." [8:27 – 8:53]
Sami Zayn will defend his newly won Intercontinental Championship against Chad Gable on the April 15 episode of RAW in his hometown of Montreal.
What are your thoughts on Sami Zayn dethroning Gunther? Hit the Discuss button and let us know.
Please credit Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.
