4 Indications WWE has given up on Gunther

Gunther is among the top wrestlers on WWE’s roster who have seen an incredible boost to their resumes in recent months. It began when he retired John Cena and made the Greatest of All Time tap out to his sleeper hold in what would be the WWE legend’s final match last December. This came after he retired another legend, Bill Goldberg, just months earlier.

These two major victories earned him the nickname the Career Killer, which he was dubbed until he retired the Phenomenal AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble in January. Following this major feather in his cap, however, Gunther’s character has completely lost direction, and WWE’s creative team is unsure of how to book him properly. His most recent loss came at Night of Champions when he lost to Cody Rhodes for a third straight time and failed to win the WWE title, adding a major blot to his otherwise recently boosted CV, and fans and analysts are now questioning the logic behind his booking and whether the company has decided not to push him.

In this article, we’ll look at four indications that WWE may have given up on Gunther.

#4. An underwhelming feud with WWE Champion Cody Rhodes

Gunther has never been the most charismatic on the mic, nor the most technical wrestler in the ring. But his heelish antics and unpredictability have always been key to fans investing in his character. When he was booked for his recent feud with Cody Rhodes for the WWE Title, Gunther moved to SmackDown from RAW to make it happen. Unfortunately, after the initial ‘shock moment’, the feud quickly lost steam as there was no real intrigue between the two other than the fact that it was for the title.

Sami Zayn’s inclusion was necessary to add spice and flavor to the feud following the Ring General’s first mediocre bout with Rhodes for the title at Clash in Italy. Rhodes’ title reign has grown stale, and fans have grown impatient with him, consistently booing him for months despite him being the company’s top babyface. When the champion couldn’t do much to make Gunther look good, and Gunther, who is a heel, gets booed anyway, the feud turned out to be underwhelming overall.

#3. Put in a feud with a part-time wrestler heading into SummerSlam

SummerSlam is one of WWE’s top 5 offerings of the year, and its top stars must have good storylines or feuds leading into it. Unfortunately for Gunther, who has been a top star for the company in recent years, has to feud with SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis, of all people, following three successive title match losses against Cody Rhodes.

The Ring General confronted Aldis backstage after Night of Champions and blamed the former TNA star for his loss, claiming that Aldis was jealous of Gunther because he is a “failed wrestler”. Aldis wrestled in TNA before WWE, but joined the Stamford-based promotion after being offered the role of SmackDown’s General Manager and hasn’t wrestled since.

Even if some people may be interested in seeing Aldis strap on his wrestling boots again, doing it against one of the top stars in the company, especially the man who retired John Cena, will take all the steam off Gunther’s character and is a sign that WWE has given up on him.

#2. WWE dropped the Career Killer gimmick

Gunther proved effective in ending the careers of Goldberg, John Cena, and AJ Styles. This led the comapny to give him the nickname the ‘Career Killer’. But that name was quickly dropped. Gunther was shoehorned into having a feud with Seth Rollins for WrestleMania 42 because his character had nothing to do at the Show of Shows. His character’s downfall continued with his subsequent feud against Cody Rhodes and later Sami Zayn.

Compare this to Randy Orton’s iconic Legend Killer gimmick from the late 2000s. The company booked him as a lethal, dangerous heel, and this gimmick sent shockwaves across pop culture. The consistent booking in Orton’s case is what made his character effective, so much so that it was referenced again this year at WrestleMania when he punt-kicked Cody Rhodes following their bout. But under the current regime, this type of booking unfortunately could not happen for Gunter.

#1. WWE didn’t put the Undisputed Title on him

Over the years, any star that is pushed to the top gets to hold the company’s top prize sooner rather than later, as it helps cement their status as the number one wrestler on the roster.

Gunther winning the Undisputed Title would not have been a surprise as he was climbing the ranks from late 2025 into early 2026. But despite the Ring General’s best efforts on screen, it seems the company doesn’t trust him to be the top champion, and they went with Sami Zayn instead, who won it at Night of Champions last Saturday. This puts Gunther right in the back of the line, so far back that he now has to feud with SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis.

It would be interesting to see what WWE does with Gunther going forward, but one can hope that they give the former World Heavyweight Champion something better to do down the road.