Gunther arguably had the best overall 2024 in WWE. The past year brought major championship happenings, the implosion of Imperium, and more significant events to the Austrian grappler. Now, the former WALTER has shared a defiant message to begin 2025, and he's receiving some notable support.
The Ring General became The King General in 2024. Gunther had his historic Intercontinental Championship reign stopped by Sami Zayn at WrestleMania XL, but within two months, he was crowned WWE's 23rd King of the Ring. The royal victory led to the veteran grappler dethroning Damian Priest as World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam, and the reign just hit five months.
Gunther took to Instagram today to mark the new year in a defiant post that was publicly supported by Bronson Reed, Ivar, and Megan Morant via likes. The 37-year-old shared a photo from his SummerSlam win over Priest and looked ahead to a stronger 2025. The heavyweight also wondered if anyone would be able to face his might.
"#Throwback to one of my favorite moments of 2024 – when I, the Ring-General, won the World Heavyweight Championship! [fire emoji] Here’s to an even stronger 2025 ahead! [trophy emoji] Will anyone even be able to face the might of Ring General in 2025?! [flexed biceps] #RingGeneral #WWE," he wrote with the photo below.
The WWE Universe responded to the champion's post with many comments on how it seemed like the real Gunther did not actually type this post. This narrative was furthered when he took to his comments section and responded with 19 hashtags and nothing else.
"#Wrestler #Wrestling #ProWrestler #ProWrestling #WrestlingLife #WrestlingIsLife #IntercontinentalChampion #Intercontinental #Champion #WrestlingFigures #WorldHeavyWeightChampion #WrestlingPhotography #ProfessionalWrestling #WrestlingCommunity #WorldWrestlingEntertainment #WWEUniverse #WWENews #worldwrestlingentertainment #wrestlemania," Gunther wrote.
The Bull from Vienna's last televised title defense came on December 14 at Saturday Night's Main Event, where he defeated Damian Priest and Finn Balor in a Triple Threat. He then retained over Priest in three Steel Cage matches on the holiday tour and retained over Punk on December 29 in Chicago.
Gunther rumored for massive WrestleMania 41 match
Gunther has had several highly acclaimed matches since joining WWE against names like Sami Zayn, Ilja Dragunov, Pete Dunne, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, The Miz, Chad Gable, Randy Orton, and so on. Now, the Imperium leader is reportedly planned for a big rematch at WrestleMania 41 in late April.
The WWE Universe is full of rumors and speculation on WrestleMania Vegas as the season approaches. Sources reported this week that officials have plans for the current World Heavyweight Champion to face Seth Rollins on The Grandest Stage of Them All. The match will reportedly be for the World Heavyweight Championship, indicating at least a few more months of The Ring General as champion.
WWE has booked two Ring General vs. Visionary singles bouts in the past. Rollins won by DQ on RAW in November 2019 during the Survivor Series build, but their second bout was a SmackDown dark match in September 2023. With the World Heavyweight Championship on the line that night, Rollins retained his title by DQ.