Video: Gunther successfully defends his World Heavyweight Championship against old rival after SmackDown goes off-air
Gunther takes on a former rival in a dark match after SmackDown and successfully defends his World Heavyweight Championship.
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Gunther defends the World Heavyweight Championship against Ilja Dragunov (via WWE and @eliteclubs0b/X)
Several members of the WWE roster are currently in Germany as the company prepares to put on its first PLE in the country called Bash in Berlin. Thus, the latest episode of SmackDown emanated from the Uber Arena in Berlin. WWE decided to reward this crowd with a highly special match, pitting Gunther against Ilja Dragunov.
After the latest episode of SmackDown went off the air, Gunther defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Ilja Dragunov in a dark match. The match lasted for about 12 minutes, and The Ring General emerged on top. Both have repeatedly proven themselves to be two of the best in-ring workers on the planet and have put on classic matches whenever they have faced off against each other.
Although neither superstar is inherently from Germany, they are incredibly famous in the country and most of Europe. The promotion has also put on this match at several house shows in Germany leading up to the PLE. Seeing the excitement on social media, the company is reportedly planning to kickstart this rivalry on WWE programming as well.
Ilja Dragunov has a lot of history with the Austrian, then known as Walter. The 37-year-old had held the NXT UK Championship for 870 days, making it the longest title reign of the modern WWE era other than Roman Reigns. The Russian was the only one who was able to overcome him and strip him of the title in a contest that could even be considered a match of the decade.
Gunther reveals his preparation ahead of his match against Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship at Bash in Berlin
Gunther will defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton at Bash in Berlin, making it his first world title defense on a PLE. The Ring General knows that taking on the Viper won’t be easy. Thus, he is taking no half-measures when it comes to his preparation for the match.
WWE recently posted a video revealing the Austrian’s preparation for his match in Berlin. He said that preparing for a match as important as the World Heavyweight Championship was highly specific and depended on the opponent. He believed that portraying professional wrestlers as meatheads was disrespectful. Instead, the best wrestlers in the world are often highly intelligent people.
Just like many of the wrestlers in the generations before him, incredible talents but what’s really inside them is a weak person.
Gunther speaking about Randy Orton
The World Heavyweight Champion said he would admire someone like Orton, except that he was a weak man inside. The former WWE Champion had lost his world titles 14 times. Meanwhile, the 37-year-old has been a champion for 80% of the time he has spent in WWE. Despite this, the wrestling veteran looks to be equally confident in this match-up as well. At 44 years old, the Apex Predator feels that he is still in the prime of his career.
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Mokshit Batra
(1457 Articles Published)