Gunther’s dominance has been unrivaled since he signed with WWE. The Ring General made his debut for the company back at NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool, confronting then-NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne. This set up a bout between the two for NXT Takeover: New York three months later, which Gunther won, kicking off his unprecedented 870-reign with the NXT UK Title. At the time, championship reigns within WWE rarely eclipsed one year. After eventually losing the gold to Ilja Dragunov, Gunther took his talents to WWE’s main roster and showed Monday Night Raw and WWE SmackDown audiences exactly what he is capable of.
Weeks into his main roster run, Gunther captured the WWE Intercontinental Championship and has been synonymous with the strap ever since. Gunther has had successful defenses against the likes of Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Chad Gable and more en route to his record-setting run.
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Earlier this fall, Gunther passed WWE Hall of Famer The Honky Tonk Man to become the longest-reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion of all time. As he continues to put distance between himself and his predecessors with each passing day, Gunther has reached another historic checkpoint.
Gunther Reaches 500 Days as Intercontinental Champion
Long may The Ring General reign.
As of October 23rd, 2023, Gunther has hit 500 days as WWE Intercontinental Champion. His reign began back on the June 10th, 2022 edition of WWE SmackDown and has continued steady ever since.
This marks the first time any wrestler has held the WWE Intercontinental Championship for more than 500 days. Only three stars (The Honky Tonk Man, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Pedro Morales) ever held the prize for more than 400 days.
“Obviously, it’s nice to hear that or read that somewhere. But I’m not a big numbers and statistics guy to be honest,” Gunther said in a prior interview regarding his milestones as champion. “It’s never on my mind a lot. But obviously, when you read it or somebody tells you it’s nice to put that stamp or my own stamp on it in the history of it.”
Gunther’s most recent defenses have come against Bronson Reed and Tommaso Ciampa. Ciampa recently reunited with longtime tag partner Johnny Gargano, setting up a new rivalry with Gunther’s stablemates in Imperium, the tandem of Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci.
Monday Night Raw returns tonight at 8 PM ET on USA Network.
