Gunther breaks silence with 1-word message after becoming the new World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam 2024

Gunther breaks his silence after defeating Damian Priest to become the new World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam.

Gunther breaks silence with 1-word message after becoming the new World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam 2024

Gunther breaks silence after becoming World Heavyweight Champion (via WWE)

Gunther challenged Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam. The Austrian had been waiting for his shot at the World Championship since May and would not let it go seriously. He won by pinfall and became the fourth World Heavyweight Champion in this lineage of the title.

Shortly after his match and winning the world title, Gunther made a post on X. He posted a photo of himself wearing the World Heavyweight Championship belt with the caption, “Weltmeister,” which simply means World Champion in German.

YouTube video

The challenger had won the King of the Ring tournament in May in Saudi Arabia to earn a world championship shot at SummerSlam. The two superstars had an intense build-up to the match, which got highly personal towards the end. The match began with the two superstars putting on an incredible show, even garnering “This is Awesome” chants from the crowd.

FS Video

During the match, Finn Balor came out to seemingly support his stablemate and cheer him on. The cheering must have worked because Priest made an incredible comeback and landed the South of Heaven chokeslam. It seemed all over for the Austrian until the Irishman placed his foot on the rope to break the pinfall. The champion was flabbergasted by his friend’s betrayal, and this was all the space the challenger needed to come back into the match and win the World Heavyweight Championship.

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Gunther comments on winning the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam

Despite being a part of a faction for years, Gunther generally takes on his matches alone. There is generally no interference during this match and he pins his opponent cleanly. His match against Damian Priest at SummerSlam was an anomaly, comprising the interference of Finn Balor. During the post-show conference, the 36-year-old was asked about his mindset regarding the way he won the match.

Gunther Finn Balor Damian Priest
Finn Balor interferes during the match between Gunther and Damian Priest (via WWE)
From this day forth, Monday Night Raw and the legacy of the World Heavyweight Championship belong to me. If anybody out there thinks I don’t deserve this, they know where to find me. 
Gunther during SummerSlam post-show conference
YouTube video

The Imperium leader felt like his victory was not tainted in any way. He had earned the right to be the world champion and had nothing to be afraid of. Going forward, both Monday Night Raw and the legacy of the World Heavyweight Championship belonged to him. Still, if anyone had any doubts about him deserving the title, they knew where to find him.

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