Former Champion's near two-year undefeated streak on the line in championship match on WWE SmackDown

WWE SmackDown tonight will feature, for the first time, a championship match pitting two stars who each hold an undefeated record.

Intercontinental Champion Gunther's latest challenger is New Day star, Xavier Woods. The 36-year-old veteran earned the opportunity to face The Ring General after defeating LA Knight in last week's show.

Woods has been undefeated in one-on-one competition since August 2021. The record-holding tag team champion will look to win his first singles title in the Stamford-based promotion against one of the most protected wrestlers on the WWE roster today.

While his tag team Booty-O Lovin' Brethren Kofi Kingston and Big E are out of action owing to injuries, Xavier Woods is looking to seize the moment and win the IC title. If he manages to dethrone Gunther, he will, in turn, hand the Austrian star his first pinfall loss on the main roster.

---

Xavier Woods believes he is in line for a shot at the WWE world title against Roman Reigns

In a recent interview with WhatCulture Wrestling, Xavier Woods called back on his victory over The Tribal Chief. The New Day star fought tooth-and-nail against Roman Reigns in November 2021. In the closing moments of the bout, the Usos interfered and cost Woods the match.

Despite WWE normally considering this a disqualification, the company doesn't recognize it officially, ruling the bout's result a no-contest. Instead, Seth Rollins' disqualification win at Royal Rumble 2022 was Reigns' sole loss since 2019, as per the company's record books:

"[Aren't you in line to have a proper shot at him?] Yes, very much so. The fact that I won King of the Ring by beating a former Intercontinental Champion in Ricochet, by beating a former Heavyweight Champion in Jinder Mahal, while beating the first-ever Universal Champion in Finn Balor, and then going on to defeat each of The Usos in singles competition, and then be the only man, sorry because Seth Rollins but we'll talk about that one but not mine. I'm the first man to break Roman Reigns' two-year winning streak," he said.

The 12-time tag team champion concluded:

"But we just don't talk about it, why? why? Tell me why? I don't understand why we don't talk about this. I've been killing it. Next year is 20 years in the game," Woods added. [H/T: Sportskeeda Wrestling]

While the contest and the subsequent angle were praised by fans, the storyline ultimately fizzled out. Meanwhile, Roman Reigns has seemingly ended his feud with Cody Rhodes for now, and has disappeared from WWE TV.