WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther successfully defended his title against The Viper Randy Orton at WWE Bash In Berlin 2024. Following on Monday Night Raw, Gunther’s next challenger was also almost confirmed as Sami Zayn issued a challenge to Gunther for the title.
Interestingly, during the WWE’s tour in Germany ahead of Bash in Berlin, Triple H and Co. ran a match with Gunther against one of the latter’s biggest rivals Ilja Dragunov and reception of the match was very positive.
Recently, WRKD Wrestling had reported insider information regarding WWE’s plans to run Gunther vs. Ilja Dragunov for the World Heavyweight Championship:
“WWE has taken notice of the excitement on social media regarding Gunther and Dragunov’s house show match in Germany this week and plans on running the match again in the future,” the report stated.
Gunther and Ilja Dragunov had the big history. In 2021, at NXT TakeOver 36, The Mad Dragon challenged the longest-reigning NXT UK Champion Gunther. The Mad Dragunov’s standing rear-naked choke sleeper hold was too much for The Ring General Gunther to endure, thus forcing the latter to tap out.