By: Jay Nelson
Summerslam 2024. The 2024 King Of The Ring Gunther set to square off against World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest. In a back-and-forth affair that included Priest’s Judgment Day labelmate Finn Balor turning on him by interfering when Priest had the match won, The Ring General took advantage and defeated The Archer Of Infamy by technical submission. New champion. Now with bigger and better gold (after having lost the WWE Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XL), Gunther was set to run roughshod over the competition.
But this was just another controversial win (The King Of The Ring Final revealed Gunther did not have Orton’s shoulders pinned as the referee counted Orton out) under the belt of a man who has been otherwise dominant since his days as the NXT UK Champion. It must be noted that, and I’m going to anger some Gunther Fans, Gunther got away with a few…
…And Priest reminded him of that. November 2024, Priest earns a shot to get his World Heavyweight Championship back at Survivor Series: War Games. Priest had been under the skin of The Ring General, goading him about his inability to beat him straight up. It seems like Priest had his number…even though HE was the one who lost at Summerslam. But this happens in wrestling. It makes things interesting: having the monster heel be put in an underdog situation.
Now for the night in Vancouver…Priest-Gunther 2 lived up to the hype. Another back-and-forth slugfest where both men had each other on the ropes. Priest, the scrappy street kid looking to regain his gold and Gunther, the European aristocrat looking to answer the one question eating at him in recent weeks and had turned him into a self-doubting champion. And then when it looks like Priest may leave Canada with the title, he is again attacked mid-match by…Finn Balor??
Balor let his former brother-turned-rival that it was not over with. He let him know that as long as he was around, Priest was not to become champion. Once again, Balor spoiled a night where Priest had a World Title match won. Gunther took advantage and won the match. But this is the part I don’t get…
In a storyline where Gunther had the opportunity to answer the question of “Can I beat Damian Priest With No Help”, why would the booking committee allow Finn to interfere once again and leave that question still unanswered??
And it may still be unanswered for the immediate future. Priest may demand a rematch, Gunther will decline, citing that he had already beaten him twice this year. Yet and still, I believe that as a banger of a feud this has been, this was a missed opportunity. And it’s not like it’s a new opponent for Damian: he’s going to feud with Balor. Again. I mean I’m not complaining about another Priest-Balor match, but my lone issue is having this second feud with Gunther only to have Gunther enter the feud questioning if he can beat Priest unassisted, and leaving out with not only that question unanswered, but with perhaps more questions.