Gunther will be defending the Intercontinental Championship against Sheamus this week on the season premiere of SmackDown.
The Ring General and The Celtic Warrior put on an instant classic at Clash at the Castle. In the end, it was Gunther who emerged victorious but the crowd in Cardiff gave Sheamus a standing ovation after the match.
The Celtic Warrior was without his stablemates this past Friday on SmackDown. Butch and Ridge Holland of The Brawling Brutes were stuck in Florida due to the hurricane. Sheamus tried to get in a few shots with his shillelagh but the numbers game caught up to him. Imperium beat The Celtic Warrior down and left him laying in the ring. Sheamus will now enter his Intercontinental Championship match on SmackDown at a distinct disadvantage.
Here are three reasons Sheamus deserves to win the Intercontinental Championship on the season premiere of WWE SmackDown:
The Storyline
The main reason Sheamus should become the Intercontinental Champion is because of his storyline with Gunther. The Ring General has already proven he can defeat Sheamus, but has he proven he can bounce back from a loss?
Gunther has yet to lose a singles match on the main roster and losing a match to a veteran like Sheamus does not equate to getting “buried”. It presents an opportunity to show the WWE Universe just how vicious Gunther can be in his pursuit to get his title back.
Gunther has lost two singles matches in NXT during his WWE career. He lost the NXT UK Championship to Ilja Dragunov in an incredible match at TakeOver 36 and to NXT Champion Bron Breakker in April. Gunther made his main roster debut a few days later on SmackDown and defeated Joe Alonzo in a squash match.
A loss for Gunther would give WWE a reason to have them fight again at an upcoming Premium Live Event. There likely won’t be too many fans complaining about these two facing off again if their match on SmackDown delivers as expected.
The Fans
The Brawling Brutes seemed like they were an act that was destined to fail. They came off as a Vince McMahon creation that maybe would have connected with fans in the 1950s as they would have been wearing similar attire in the audience. Many fans were disappointed to see Pete Dunne portray “Butch”, a scrappy underdog comedy character, instead of The Bruiserweight the WWE Universe had grown to love in NXT.
After Triple H took over creative responsibility for the company, The Brawling Brutes have been presented as a group that fans should take seriously. They battled The Usos for the Undisputed Tag Team Championships in a great match a couple of weeks ago on SmackDown.
Butch and Ridge Holland were moments away from becoming champions before Imperium interfered. The Usos escaped with the titles but the crowd was heavily behind The Brawling Brutes.
The crowd in the DCU Center in Worcester this Friday will likely be cheering for Sheamus as well. There is currently a heel faction dominating the top of the promotion with The Bloodline, why not have a babyface group run the midcard?
The Legacy
Sheamus spoke with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport ahead of his Intercontinental Championship match against Gunther at Clash at the Castle. Ariel asked why the title was so important Sheamus gave two reasons.
“The first reason is it’s the one championship that I need to complete my collection and become WWE’s first-ever Ultimate Grand Slam Champion. And number two, it’s because to me it is the first title I watched when I started watching WWE as a kid.
It was the title that was always on television. It was the title I saw every single week and it was the working man’s title. That was a great platform for a lot of talents who started out like you know, Macho Man, Mr. Perfect, Bret Hart, Shawn (Michaels), all those guys.
Sheamus joined the main roster in 2009 and has had an incredible 12-year career in WWE thus far. The 44-year-old is a four-time World Champion in the company and a three-time United States Champion. He captured the RAW Tag Team Championships four times as well with former WWE star Cesaro, now known as Claudio Castagnoli in All Elite Wrestling.
The Celtic Warrior won the King of the Ring in 2010, the Royal Rumble in 2012, and the men’s Money in the Bank Ladder match in 2015. The only thing missing from his resume in WWE is the Intercontinental Championship and it would be great to see that rectified against Gunther on SmackDown.
Would you like to see Sheamus win the Intercontinental Championship or would you rather see Gunther continue his dominance this week on WWE SmackDown? Let us know in the comments section below.