Gunther credits Triple H for changing WWE’s European talent strategy
Gunther enjoys being a heel and the chaos that erupts with it. He also recognizes the impact his move from the European wrestling circuit to WWE has had on his own career and the future opportunities it could create for talent from the continent.
In an interview with Enry Lazza, Gunther talked about the fan backlash after defeating John Cena in his retirement match. He stated it was a struggle for his WWE colleagues to deal with the negative reactions from crowds, but he personally thrives on it.
“It is and I feel like it’s a struggle that a lot of my colleagues sometimes have, where they struggle to get negative reactions, because it cannot feel nice, but I enjoy it, I have to say. I like to be the one that creates chaos and stirs the pot and that worked out really well with John (Cena).”
Gunther also elaborated on WWE scouting and discovering talents from across Europe. He emphasised on his transition to mainstream wrestling audiences through WWE, noting how his success at the global stage creates more visibility for future European wrestlers.
“Yeah, it was definitely the case that it was hard and because WWE wasn’t quite that open yet. That really just changed with Triple H when he took over NXT where they changed the strategy and basically looked at everybody out there. And I feel like Europe was under the radar for a very long time because especially Italy, I remember that when I started like 2008 or something had years, after that, had a really good wrestling scene.”
“I remember there was a guy called Kyle that I used to wrestle here and there and if you’re looking up you find him. They had great crowds in Italy like thousands of people and then he changed up a little bit again but that would be something where back then you didn’t have the reach yet to get the eyes of WWE on the talent over here. And then I was there at the right time when the European indies really came up again and then WWE looked at it and actually said hey there’s a lot of talent we can look at and I wasn’t the first out of that scene or bubble that made the jump but I think I was most likely the guy made the biggest impact I never made a jump from that scene and that leads to kicking the door open for other guys.”
Gunther competed in Japan and Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) in Germany before WWE NXT UK. He later enjoyed a dominant reign as NXT UK Champion before the branch was eventually merged with NXT.
Gunther’s main roster debut in 2022 was marked by his longest reign as Intercontinental Champion, a reign which spanned across 666 days.
Since last year, he further built his reputation as ‘the career killer’ after he went on a spree of retiring wrestling veterans like Goldberg, John Cena and AJ Styles.
Rosanne Raphael is a wrestling writer with over three and a half years of experience covering all things related to the industry. From a kindergarten teacher to PR Associate to turning her lifelong passion for the industry into a career, Rosanne is currently writing for F4W Online where she focuses on wrestling news, analysis, and storytelling.
Rosanne previously contributed to Sportskeeda as an Assistant Content Manager.
When not consumed by wrestling, Rosanne is a musician and an aspiring artist.