"I felt I need to take that into consideration" - Top WWE star on not being regularly featured in premium live events

WrestleMania 39 is likely going to be WWE's biggest event of all time, especially with the recent premium live event records skyrocketing more than ever before.

Triple H and the creative team have nailed the storyline department over the last few months, including the title defenses of Intercontinental Champion Gunther.

The SmackDown star recently revealed that a fellow WWE Superstar's father was a great source of influence for him and his faction in general, and talked about defending his title on WWE TV rather than on premium live events.

He claimed on Corey Graves' After The Bell podcast that he personally thinks it is a "fantastic spot" to be in.

"That's all you can ask for really. If you are the champion and you get the prominent positions for your matches, defending the title, that's all you can ask for," Gunther stated. "I think sometimes with fans there is like a misconception when there's like a premium live event and there's no IC title match. I don't view defending the title on Smackdown, live on Fox, on a Friday night to open the show. I think that's a fantastic position. I would always take that with it with a kiss on top." [35:54 onwards]

He further talked about the importance of the big championship matches he watched growing up in Vienna, stating that it was something that he added to his style of work in WWE. Despite his title contests not making it to premium live events, Gunther's matches have a distinct aura that gets fans invested.

"I felt that I need to take that into consideration as well, especially as with the character we have, who we are. So I always like to do my best, to give it a big fight feel, if that makes sense, and have a certain structure and build to those matches."

You can read more about how Gunther feels about a former WWE rival here.

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Gunther responds to Cody Rhodes' challenge for a WWE match in Europe

The Intercontinental Champion's star-making performance at the Royal Rumble was scotched by the winner of the bout, Cody Rhodes.

However, it only came after a one-on-one encounter with The American Nightmare after the other 28 superstars were eliminated.

Cody Rhodes even claimed that his mom wanted to fight Gunther after seeing what the latter put her son through during the Royal Rumble match.

Speaking on After The Bell, Gunther responded to an earlier challenge put forth by Cody Rhodes on another edition of the podcast, where The American Nightmare talked about facing The Ring General in Europe.

"I was like, okay I have to introduce him to the new reality over here. It was kind of like my attitude going into that and yeah, obviously, that was just the taste I think for everybody I think Cody is one of those guys, where that's the perfect match for me, the perfect opposite if that makes sense. I think the match is right there whenever it needs to happen, if it will happen in Europe, obviously, it will be fantastic." [H/T: Sportskeeda]

Who do you think should step up and look to dethrone Gunther at WrestleMania 39? Sound off in the comments section below.