WWE veteran defends Damian Priest and Gunther after Survivor Series: WarGames (Exclusive)

Gunther retained the World Heavyweight Championship against Damian Priest at WWE Survivor Series: WarGames on November 30. Legendary booker and manager Dutch Mantell is a big fan of Gunther and thinks fans should be patient with the Austrian's storylines.

The finish to the match saw Finn Balor land a Coup de Grace on his former Judgment Day stablemate Priest. Gunther then hit the Irishman with a Big Boot before making Priest pass out to a Sleeper.

Sportskeeda Wrestling Smack Talk hosts Rick Ucchino and Sid Pullar III mentioned the negative feedback that the finish received. Mantell responded by defending WWE's booking of the World Heavyweight Championship story:

"Always remember that when they do these angles, they're throwing at the wall and they're gonna see what sticks. So, while this thing may not have stuck, well, they'll clean the wall off and they'll throw something new at it the next time out, and we'll see what we get out of this. But Gunther I think is one of their future stars for a long time. Damian Priest too. I don't know how far Roman's [Roman Reigns] gonna go but I think they're building the infrastructure and they're having a record year already." [7:31 – 8:02]

Watch the video above to hear Mantell's thoughts on why WWE should have booked CM Punk and Roman Reigns' post-match segment differently.

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Dutch Mantell on WWE's improved storylines

Triple H replaced his father-in-law Vince McMahon as WWE's creative figurehead in July 2022. Roman Reigns was presented as the company's marquee attraction during McMahon's tenure. Now, two years on, several other stars have emerged as potential top guys.

Dutch Mantell reiterated that WWE's higher-ups should be applauded for their work in recent years:

"Some of these things won't be perfect in a working sense, but I think they have built the infrastructure to continue and I think they've got a lot more guys over now than they had two years ago when they had one guy [Roman Reigns] over." [8:05 – 8:25]

Moving forward, Gunther will defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Finn Balor at Saturday Night's Main Event on December 14.

What are your thoughts on Damian Priest and Gunther's rivalry? Hit the discuss button and let us know.

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