Gunther polls the WWE Universe on his next title defense

Gunther has been WWE World Heavyweight Champion for 169 days now. The Austrian Superstar dethroned Damian Priest at SummerSlam 2024 and has since continued to steam-roll all challengers. With key matches in his career on the horizon, Gunther is polling the WWE Universe on what's next ahead of the Royal Rumble.

The Ring General came to the main roster in April 2022 after a record-setting reign as NXT UK Champion. Gunther dominated again on the main roster as well until his record-breaking Intercontinental Championship reign was nixed by Sami Zayn at WrestleMania XL, but he bounced back by becoming World Wrestling Entertainment's 23rd King of the Ring. Gunther then dethroned Priest of the World Heavyweight Championship two months later, and since then has retained his title against Randy Orton, Zayn, and Priest.

Gunther's next challenger will be Jey Uso. The King of the Ring semi-final rematch will take place on January 25 at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXVIII. After the match was made official on Monday's RAW, the Imperium leader took to Instagram today with footage from his in-ring showdown with Main Event Jey, who recently made a massive prediction for 2025. Gunther captioned the post with a quick query for the WWE Universe and followed the post with a comment following a recent practice that is catching on with fans: A heap of hashtags.

"The challenge is set - Who’s ready for The Ring General to teach him a lesson? #Gunther #RingGeneral #WWE."

He later commented on his post with several hashtags, as seen below:

"#Wrestler #Wrestling #ProWrestler #ProWrestling #WrestlingLife #WrestlingIsLife #IntercontinentalChampion #Intercontinental #Champion #WrestlingFigures #WorldHeavyWeightChampion #WrestlingPhotography #ProfessionalWrestling #WrestlingCommunity #WrestlingFamily #WrestlingTeam #WrestlingFan #WrestlingFans #WWNetwork #Wrestlingshow #RAW #WWERAW #WWEUniverse #WWENews #worldwrestlingentertainment #wrestlemania," Gunther wrote.

Gunther previously defeated Jey after 19 minutes in February 2024 with the Intercontinental Championship on the line, amid a bit of backstage controversy on RAW. Their next televised singles bout was the 18-minute King of the Ring semi-final bout in May of last year. Gunther also has eleven non-televised victories over Jey, while Uso has just one.

---

Updated lineup for WWE Saturday Night's Main Event

World Wrestling Entertainment will present its first Saturday Night's Main Event of 2025 on January 25 from Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, TX. Below is the updated lineup:

• Braun Strowman vs. Jacob Fatu
• Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker (c) vs. Sheamus
• World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther (c) vs. Jey Uso

SNME XXXVIII will air live on NBC and Peacock in the United States in primetime at 8 pm ET. The legendary SNME series returned in December, and the upcoming show will be the first of quarterly specials on NBC.