Gunther shocked fans in December by making John Cena tap out in Cena’s final match at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Now, eight months later, he’s heading into SummerSlam, one of WWE’s biggest shows of the year, to face SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis.
It’s an unexpected path after such a landmark win, raising questions about whether WWE has dropped the ball with Gunther.
That question was recently put to AJ Styles on The Phenomenally Retro Podcast. After his co-host Tony Giles argued that Gunther’s
momentum had stalled despite the win over Cena, Styles agreed while defending WWE’s creative team.
“It’s fair to say that,” Styles said, adding, “I’d rather beat myself to death in that ring than be a writer for a show because you have to be smarter than everybody else. And it’s very hard to do week after week.”
Gunther has also beaten Goldberg in the Hall of Famer’s farewell match and retired Styles at this year’s Royal Rumble. But as the former WWE Champion pointed out, “he can’t retire everybody he wrestles.”
Still, Styles believes Gunther can become a world champion because he fills a role that Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and CM Punk don’t.
“These guys are huge stars, but I wouldn’t say they’re hated heels. Gunther is a hated heel,” Styles said.
In recent months, Gunther has been a fixture in WWE’s world title scene. Although he fell short, the circumstances behind each loss helped maintain his credibility.
His SummerSlam match against Aldis comes after weeks of tension turned physical. For Aldis, it’s his first match in WWE since coming to the company in 2023, when he was immediately named SmackDown GM.
Despite Aldis being a former NWA World Champion, Styles doesn’t picture him beating Gunther.
“I can’t see how Aldis could beat Gunther. I just can’t see it,” he said.
