Former WWE Champion claims the Intercontinental Championship match will main-event WrestleMania 39 Night One

WWE star Gunther's Intercontinental Championship will be defended at WrestleMania 39 against the winner of this Friday's number-one contender match between Drew McIntyre and Sheamus.

The creative team decided to swerve fans by having the former WWE Champions simultaneously pin LA Knight and Xavier Woods, respectively. during the Fatal-5-Way match to determine Gunther's WrestleMania opponent.

Sheamus has now made a bold statement, reminding fans of his match against Drew McIntyre on WWE SmackDown this week, by claiming that the Intercontinental Championship match will main-event WrestleMania 39 on April 1st:

"St. Patrick’s Day 2023. Kansas City. Drew McIntyre V Sheamus. Winner: IC Title Match Main Event at Wrestlemania 39 Day One.. Next Friday “Remember Murrayfield” #SCOvIRE #luckoftheirish" Sheamus wrote.

Sheamus and Gunther are no strangers to one another, having worked together on a five-star epic last year in Cardiff, Wales. The former WWE Champion has been rallying for a match against The Ring General on the road to WrestleMania, while the latter believes The Celtic Warrior to be "desperate" at this point.

Meanwhile, Drew McIntyre vs. Gunther will be the first-ever clash, should it happen at the Showcase of Immortals. A triple-threat match had been rumored earlier and is still not out of the realm of possibility

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Wrestling veteran Dutch Mantell wants Sheamus vs. Gunther for WWE WrestleMania 39

Dutch Mantell is one of the names rooting for Sheamus to become the undisputed number-one contender for Gunther's Intercontinental Championship.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's latest edition of Smack Talk, Mantell stated that he wishes to see a sequel to Sheamus vs. Gunther on WWE's Grandest Stage. He believes that it's a better scenario than a "convoluted" three-way story:

"I'm gonna choose Sheamus again because of what they did at Clash at the Castle, I'd do it one more time. It was a hit there. I think when you start throwing three-ways together then you've convoluted and I think it takes some of the match quality down, really. Much easier to concentrate on one guy than two. I would go on Sheamus on that one," said Mantell. [H/T: Sportskeeda Wrestling]

Sheamus and Drew McIntyre recently performed on the blue brand as a tag team. But with the Intercontinental Championship coming in between the two, there have been cracks in their friendship.

The Celtic Warrior has even gone on to call his tag partner a "grave robbing bast**d." We'll find out on SmackDown this Friday which direction the company is heading towards for its biggest show of the year.

Do you believe that Gunther's Intercontinental Title defense should close WrestleMania 39 Night One? Sound off in the comments section below.