>>16727484
He's actually the best wrestler in the world

>>16727484
>>16727592
Both of these statements can be true. Although desu, Gunther isn't the best wrestler (ring worker) in the world either. Being a great champion is about a lot more than ring work.

Its weird. I think WWE fans appreciate what they're getting with Gunther matches but he's not mega over. I could theoretically see him walking into Mania as champ and successfully retaining... but I don't see the crowd reacting huge... nor do I think he's earned the spot of closing out Night 1

The IC run was booked well and it capped off at the right place/right time with Sami (I know you're going to argue for Gable but Sami needed a big WM moment more and there's only so many slots available. Sami was more over with WWE crowds and sold more merch and he was the right guy to transition to Bron)

The problem with his WHC title run:
>his win was bogged down by the Damian / Judgment Day BS. gunther should have won clean and he should have won in a mogging. Then JD could have turned on Priest the next night on Raw.
>too many title defenses have been bogged down with Priest and Finn BS and he's playing second fiddle
>The Crown Jewel loss to Cody shouldn't have happened. Can't ignore it as "non canon" since Liv and WWE kept selling the consequences of the womens champion vs champion match
That's the problem with "undefeated streak" characters. Its not even about their first loss but their second pinfall loss can stick out even more stupidly

Now on the Road to WM he feels like an odd man out. Punk, Seth (as a heel), Drew, Roman, and Cena have all earned world title placement at Mania. A multi man match is the cheapest cop out

Gunther should drop the WHC at Rumble or EC.
Then rehab his character and have him face Goldberg in Goldberg's retirement match at Mania, and have Gunther decisively beat him.

Then let him have a "USA vs Germany" feud over the summer with either Cena or Cody

>>16727484
Nah you are

It's only sucked since he's been dragged into the judgement day vortex

>>16727484
Nah, Priest was the flop

>>16727484
It’s the title.
There should have been major focus to making Gunther THE GUY to beat and build the title through that but they fucked up by making Cody kill the dragon early.
Now he’s castrated with a pointless B world title.

He really needed to win the Saudi Show. All allure evaporated that day.

>>16727641
>Can't ignore it as "non canon" since Liv and WWE kept selling the consequences of the womens champion vs champion match
The Saudi shows are never "non-canon" and haven't been for years. That anyone still says that is a retarded Saudi Derangement Syndrome meme. The Saudi shows are PLEs like any other PLE.

>>16727763
Gunther had previously lost to Sami, Bron, and Ilja. He's not invincible, but the story of the match with Cody is that he was simply outsmarted, and he was shaken up afterwards, and that's lead to great developments between him and Ludwig.

File: sami-zayn-y-johnny-knoxvi(...).jpg (547 KB, 1920x1080)

547 KB JPG

>>16727763
Gunther literally lost to Sami fucking Zayn, the skinny-fat comedy wrestler that jobbed to Johnny Knoxville.

>>16727597
Exactly.
For me, Gunther is top three in the world for excellent matches (the other two being Okada and Iwatani). He does great work in WWE and is proof that the company can have excellent matches.
His problem is more booking. His gimmick doesn't work unless he's The Guy. But The Guy has to be defending The Title and the belt he's carrying just ain't it.

>>16727843
>The Saudi shows are never "non-canon" and haven't been for years.
I agree with you but I'm just pointing out an excuse that people use.

I do think the loss to Cody was unnecessary, the "champion vs champion" gimmick was a bad idea "Raw champ vs SD champ" never works (even if some of the Brock matches were fun). It always makes the losing champ look like a lameduck goober

>>16727961
There should only be one WWE champion anyway. Two world titles only works if there is a real brand split, but there's not. WWE should have a top belt on each show, likely the IC and United States titles, and then one WWE champion that floats between both shows and can take on challengers from either show.

>>16727843
Bron is being booked as a monster but is a Steiner in an HHH controlled WWE. I’ve said forever his booking was going to be weird despite this board’s fetish with him and Iija was the Dragon slayer for WWE UK.

I don’t think he should have lost to Sami and should honestly still be IC champ along with the World title so he sits on something smith historical prestige. That said, it’s not like Sami is a bad loss, Sami was almost beating Roman the month before.