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WWE veteran Dutch Mantell has praised Triple H's recent booking of top SmackDown Superstars Gunther and Ricochet.
The Ring General and Ricochet clashed against each other on the most recent episode of WWE SmackDown. Their match was for the Intercontinental Championship, and the Imperium leader emerged victorious.
It was an excellent match that popped the crowd in attendance and received widespread praise online. The dynamic between the high-flying Ricochet and the hard-hitting Gunther worked to perfection as fans witnessed a quality television match.
On Sportskeeda's Smack Talk, Dutch Mantell praised the match and how Gunther has been booked in WWE in recent weeks.
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"Tremendous, tremendous match. Ricochet's been there a while but Gunther needs to get over and I'm going to tell you, Ricochet tonight actually was over more at the finish by losing than he would have been by winning. Because if he had won, where would they go really? They have nowhere to go. Gunther made that brilliant showing against Sheamus at the Castle show in Wales, Clash at the Castle. He started to get over."
Mantell also elaborated upon the creative's potential long-term plans:
"That's why I was so disappointed when on one of the matches he was running from The Monster of All Monsters, I'm saying why in the hell? I might have him look and then step out of the race, which would have got him more heat. They never touch, which is, which is fine. I think the people have forgotten that now. They're concentrating now on long-term booking instead of the short term, that's what they were doing before," Dutch Mantell said. (23:50 – 28:30)
You can watch the full video below:
What else happened on WWE SmackDown?
The latest episode of SmackDown was a memorable one, aside from Gunther vs. Ricochet. Liv Morgan and Tegan Nox unsuccessfully challenged Damage CTRL for the Women's Tag Team Championship.
Hit Row defeated The Viking Raiders and Legado del Fantasma, while LA Knight called out Bray Wyatt. This led to Uncle Howdy making his WWE debut as the sinister character made his way up the ramp, much to everyone's astonishment.
In the main event segment, Roman Reigns returned to the blue brand, and a tag team match was announced for the December 30 episode. During the much-awaited show, Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns will take on John Cena and Kevin Owens.
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