"It must be him" - 29-year-old WWE Superstar claims it is his destiny to face Gunther at WrestleMania

A former rival of Gunther's believes it is his destiny to battle the Intercontinental Champion at WWE WrestleMania.

The Ring General captured the Intercontinental Championship from Ricochet on June 10, 2022. He hasn't looked back since and recently eclipsed The Honky Tonk Man's record as the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time.

Ilja Dragunov has had some epic battles with Gunther in the past and recently disclosed that he wants to battle the champion at WWE WrestleMania. Speaking on the Hall of Fame podcast with Booker T and Brad Gilmore, Dragunov claimed it was his destiny to face the Intercontinental Champion at WrestleMania because of their chemistry in the ring.

“It must be Gunther. It must be him. There is no other choice. This is destiny, there is no other match that makes people feel this dimension of emotions that we both can produce, just because we're directly opposites. There is not one person that has taught me more, not one person that has pushed me more and there is no one person that I can have a better match with on such a high level as WrestleMania. It is impossible because we are the opposites, but we connect and it is something people have never seen before and can reinvent this," he said. [H/T: WrestleOps]

Dragunov previously defeated the RAW star to end his historic 870-day reign as NXT UK Champion at TakeOver 36.

Gunther reveals why he was hesitant to sign with WWE

Gunther's physical style separates him from the rest of the roster, but he recently admitted that he was hesitant to sign with the company for that very reason.

Speaking with Sportskeeda Wrestling in an exclusive interview ahead of SummerSlam, the 36-year-old shared that he originally distanced himself from the company. He noted that he was more drawn to the technical aspects of the sport early on as a performer. However, he eventually decided to sign with WWE as it seemed like a natural evolution for his career.

"To be honest, it was one of the reasons why he distanced myself from WWE for so long, why I hesitated when everybody from Europe got signed. When I started training and digging into wrestling, I always watched Japanese wrestling. All Japan and more sports-based stuff than the entertainment aspect. But over time, I think it's a normal evolution." [From 04:26 to 04:57]

You can watch the full interview in the video below:

The leader of Imperium appears to be unstoppable as Intercontinental Champion and made Chad Gable's daughter cry during a recent episode of RAW. Only time will tell which WWE Superstar finally dethrones him and captures the title.

Who would you like to see defeat Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship? Let us know in the comments section below.