Since joining WWE’s main roster in May of 2022, Gunther (formerly known as WALTER) has found immediate success, winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship in June.
It was not long after the move to the main roster that Vince McMahon announced his retirement, which ultimately led to Triple assuming all creative duties.
Since then, there has a been a clear change in the product which includes talent saying the word “wrestling” instead of “sports entertainment”. Recently, Gunther himself went to Twitter to post a photo, referring to himself in the caption as a “PRO WRESTLING CHAMPION,” which drew lots of attention.
Speaking to Nerdradio’s Chuck Bean, Gunther was asked about both the photo and WWE’s recent regime change.
“I’m actually glad I got the chance to work with Vince a little bit. My time there and the few interactions we had, there weren’t that many. I’m kind of glad that happened so I still make the experience a little bit. Obviously, everybody was surprised by that. Whatever company, if somebody else is in charge, things are going to be done a little different. Everybody has their own approach. I haven’t felt stressed or anything like that before, I always focused on myself, did myself, and that’s not going to change. From the tweet, there was big reactions and stuff, if you open my Twitter page or Instagram, it’s always said Berufsringer, the German word for professional wrestling. It’s always been in there. Professional wrestling is a sports entertainment. It’s a sport that this there to entertain. It’s not a competitive sport. You can say one or the other way. I always refer to myself as a professional wrestler. Even in WWE, where the entertainment aspect is way higher compared to other places, at the end, when the bell rings, wrestling will never change. There has not been a memo or something where it’s like, ‘Hey guys, you can call yourself wrestlers again.’ I never stopped referring to myself as that.”
Gunther
Gunther is set to defend his WWE Intercontinental Championship against Sheamus at this weekend’s WWE Clash at the Castle on Saturday, September 3.
H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
