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Seth Rollins recently announced he will be ready to compete at WrestleMania 40 amid concerns he could miss the event due to a knee injury. Gunther, the current Intercontinental Champion, reiterated ahead of the 2024 Royal Rumble that he plans to face Rollins if he wins the 30-man match.
On the January 22 episode of RAW, Gunther interrupted Rollins during an announcement about his WrestleMania 40 status. The Ring General revealed that his sights are set on winning The Visionary's World Heavyweight Championship.
In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Gunther confirmed once again that he is determined to win the Royal Rumble and challenge Rollins. The Austrian also referenced his upcoming Intercontinental Championship defense against Kofi Kingston:
"I want to win the Royal Rumble tomorrow and then challenge Seth Rollins," Gunther said. "That's my big goal. Monday, I defend this [Intercontinental Championship] against Kofi. Maybe he can take advantage of me not being able to fully focus on that yet because we have the Rumble tomorrow, but I'm quite confident to defend it against him too and then we'll see where it takes me." [0:46 – 1:05]
Gunther's only previous Royal Rumble appearance came at the 2023 event. The Imperium leader lasted almost 72 minutes after entering the match from the number one spot. He finished as the runner-up after being eliminated by eventual winner Cody Rhodes.
What if Gunther wins Seth Rollins' title?
In 1990, The Ultimate Warrior relinquished the Intercontinental Championship after winning the WWE Championship from Hulk Hogan. In more recent years, Keith Lee forfeited the North American Championship after capturing the NXT Championship in 2020.
Gunther is unsure what will happen to his Intercontinental Championship if he wins Seth Rollins' world title at WrestleMania 40:
"I think we can [keep both titles], yes, but how I go forward with that, I don't know. I haven't thought about that. I don't think the Intercontinental Championship deserves to be a side project of somebody, so we'll see when it's time." [1:15 – 1:28]
Rollins previously held the United States and WWE Championships at the same time after defeating John Cena in a unification match at SummerSlam 2015.
Would you like Gunther to win the Royal Rumble and challenge Seth Rollins? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Chris Van Vliet and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
