11-time WWE champion to return after 41 days to help combat Imperium? Exploring potential story

An 11-time champion in WWE could be getting ready to return to action after 41 days to help combat Imperium on RAW.

Gunther is the leader of Imperium and has been utterly dominant since his arrival on the main roster in 2022. He captured the Intercontinental Championship from Ricochet in June 2022 and has held onto the title ever since. The Ring General has eclipsed The Honky Tonk Man as the longest-reigning IC Champion in company history.

On the Day 1 edition of WWE RAW, New Day's Kofi Kingston teamed up with Jey Uso to battle Imperium's Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci. Unfortunately, the match was cut short due to an injury to Vinci, resulting in Kingston and Uso being awarded the victory.

Xavier Woods has been out of action since the Tag Team Turmoil match won by The Creed Brothers on the November 27 edition of RAW. Woods has never captured a singles title during his time with the company and fell short against Gunther during their rivalry last year.

Woods, who is a seven-time RAW and four-time SmackdDown Tag Team Champion, could make his return after over a month away to reunite with his New Day stablemate ahead of his match against Ludwig Kaiser tomorrow night on RAW.

The rivalry between New Day and Imperium could also lead to Gunther defending the Intercontinental Championship against Xavier Woods or Kofi Kingston at Royal Rumble 2024 on January 27.

Bill Apter suggests returning WWE star end Gunther's title reign

Legendary wrestling journalist Bill Apter recently claimed that the leader of Imperium has a "perfect match" waiting for him to end his title reign.

Speaking on Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine podcast, Bill Apter pitched having Randy Orton be the one to finally dethrone Gunther of the Intercontinental Championship.

Orton has already signed a contract to become a SmackDown superstar, but Apter noted that the company could easily have The Viper return to RAW to feud with the Intercontinental Champion:

"Well I said this on UnSKripted. And I know people yell at me, 'Hey Apter, don't you watch these shows? This guy is on this brand...' There are ways to switch brands if they wanna do it. To me, Randy Orton is the guy that has to do that. Perfect match in my opinion." [From 0:50 onwards]

Roman Reigns will be defending the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Randy Orton, LA Knight, and AJ Styles in a Fatal Four-Way at WWE Royal Rumble 2024. It will be interesting to see if Gunther puts his title on the line at the premium live event later this month as well.

Which WWE Superstar do you think should capture the Intercontinental Championship from Gunther? Let us know in the comments section below.