There’s no doubt that Gunther is one of the best wrestlers on WWE’s roster. He’s called the Ring General for a reason, and his historic run as the Intercontinental Champion showed just how good he is and how much WWE believes in him with Triple H at the helm. No one was more deserving of being a World Champion than him, so even though he plays a heel, you couldn’t help but cheer when Gunther beat Damian Priest to become the World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam. Since then, though, Gunther’s reign has had a lot of ups and downs. He’ll surely beat Sami Zayn on Raw next week, but how WWE is getting there, portraying Gunther as a coward afraid to face the one man who beat him, is lazy and below what Gunther is capable of.

Gunther Has Always Been A Fighting Champion

Even If He Cheated, Gunther Faced All Comers

Gunther, from his days on NXT UK as Walter, has always been the cocky heel who thought he was better than everyone else. It was a gimmick that worked because he almost always was. That didn’t mean he was above cheating to win (what heel isn’t?), but before he did cheat, he’d put on a classic of a match with whoever he stepped in the ring with.

That continued on WWE’s main roster. Vince McMahon might not have seen how special he was, but Triple H thankfully did, and he booked Gunther to become the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time. Again, he was a jerk, he’d cheat and use Imperium to do his dirty work, but he was sure of himself and never afraid. That’s changed with his current storyline with Sami Zayn, and although there are some storyline reasons for Gunther to be hesitant about facing the man who took his last title, it’s derailing Gunther’s current title reign.

Gunther Kept Denying A Title Shot To Sami Zayn

Zayn And Bret Hart Called Gunther A Coward

When Gunther became the World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam, it was because Finn Balor turned on Damian Priest during the match. That was no big deal, because he’s a bad guy, and a bad guy is going to win any way he can. That’s basic Pro Wrestling 101 and has been used by heels since the beginning. At Bash in Berlin, Gunther got to have a big moment by not only beating Randy Orton in the main event, but by doing so fair and square with a sleeper hold, then after the match, showing his respect to Orton with a handshake. Was this the beginning of an evolved Gunther?

Unfortunately, it was not. With Randy Orton out of the way, Sami Zayn stepped up. He’d lost his Intercontinental Championship to Bron Breakker and was now out to challenge the man he’d beaten for it. It should have made sense, but it has been underwhelming. Sami Zayn lost a midcard title, and now he gets to challenge for the top one? Worse, is that their storyline has been incredibly weak. Monday after Monday, Sami Zayn asks Gunther for a title shot, only for Gunther to turn him down. It’s an angle that has been done to death. Forgive me for agreeing with Vince Russo, but he was right when he said of their current storyline on Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Legion of Raw:

“My favorite segment (sarcastically). Remember Jerry Maguire? What was the infamous line? ‘You had me at hello.’ I swear to god bro, I was just waiting for Gunther to turn around to Sami and say, ‘You had me at coward.’ That got Gunther in the match. He called him a coward and that’s it. The C word bro. I cannot imagine myself sitting at this computer and writing that line. I can’t imagine. That is so third-grade level, it’s not even funny.” (h/t Sportskeeda)

The “Gunther is a coward” routine has been used so much that even Bret Hart got in on it when he showed up on Raw in Calgary. That did lead to Gunther cutting a brilliant line about Goldberg being his favorite wrestler, but the whole idea of one wrestler telling another that they’re too scared to face them is incredibly lazy. Gunther and WWE fans deserve something much more compelling.

The Coward Gimmick Makes Gunther Look Weak

There Are Several Raw Storylines More Exciting Than The World Heavyweight Champion

Chicken s**t heels have been used for decades in wrestling, and sometimes effectively, but for that gimmick to be given to Gunther only makes him look weak and uninteresting. Some heels succeed in the coward role, but it doesn’t fit a man who has shown time and time again that he can go with anyone in the ring. He has nothing to be scared of, even against Sami Zayn, who is in his own creative dry spell. The lack of creativity to his character rubs off on Gunther and makes him look lackluster too.

Even if you think the cowardly angle works okay for Gunther, his place on the card is seriously lacking. He’s not the main event or even one of the most exciting parts about Raw. The top name on Raw falls behind CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre, Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan, Jey Uso becoming Intercontinental Champion, and even whatever insane thing Bronson Reed does next. All of those storylines are working great, so why can’t WWE give Gunther something interesting to bite into as well? He can’t even get on Bad Blood and is defending his title on Raw! That says it all. Hopefully, after next Monday, they give Gunther something better to do, with either a feud against CM Punk or the teased one we saw with Bron Breakker. Gunther is too great to be the fifth most important part of his own show.