Gunther vows to win WWE Royal Rumble to confront Seth Rollins for world heavyweight title

Royal Rumble is scheduled for January 27 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Gunther is all set for the upcoming pay-per-view event. Seth Rollins in this week’s Monday Night RAW at the Smoothie King Center, shared that he will likely miss the upcoming premium event of Royal Rumble 2024 due to an injury.

The Ring General then interrupted the promo, openly challenging ‘The Architect’ for the World Heavyweight Championship and vowing to win the Royal Rumble, setting the stage for his Road to WrestleMania moment.

Gunther aims to win Royal Rumble to challenge Seth Rollins

The leader of the Imperium Gunther is in his 594+ day reign of the Intercontinental Championship, which is the longest in the title’s history. The Ring General defeated the previous champion Ricochet on June 10, 2022, on SmackDown in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Even after becoming the record holder of the Intercontinental title, he is still not satisfied with the achievement.

The 36-year-old WWE star challenged Seth Rollins 40 for the World Heavyweight Championship during the January 22 episode of RAW. During an interview on Raw Talk, Gunther said, “I’m going to win the Royal Rumble, and I’m going to challenge Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania.”

WWE recently announced that after the Royal Rumble on January 27, Gunther will defend his Intercontinental title on the January 29 event of Monday Night RAW against Kofi Kingston. The champ shared his view on Kingston saying, “Kofi has been an annoyance for Imperium in the last weeks. He took (Giovanni) Vinci out. He created chaos in the match with (Ludwig) Kaiser. So, if he really thinks he’s the man that should step up and challenge the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time, good for him.”

Has Gunther ever been to WWE WrestleMania?

Gunther made his WWE main roster debut in 2022, defeating Joe Alonzo in a squash match. Two months later, the 36-year-old wrestling superstar secured the Intercontinental title by defeating Ricochet. His first WrestleMania event was on April 2, 2023, where he defended his title in a triple-threat match against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre.

The match witnessed ‘The Celtic Warrior’, ‘The Scottish Warrior’, and ‘The Ring General’ employing various maneuvers to outperform each other. Sheamus used his ‘Brogue Kick’ multiple times, and McIntyre executed his ‘Claymore’ on both opponents. However, when Sheamus delivered his last finisher to Drew, Gunther jumped from the top rope to break the count. He then used his finisher, the ‘Powerbomb’, on both athletes and secured the victory by pinfall.

Gunther’s challenge to Seth has shaken the landscape of WWE, fans now have a new favorite that they are rotting for, and this year’s Royal Rumble in January might see a new champion among the countless WWE stars hoping to have their moment on WrestleMania XL.

What do you think of Gunther’s challenge to Seth Rollins? Do you think Gunther will win the Royal Rumble? Let us know in the comments section below!