Why Gunther Avoids Stipulation Matches

GUNTHER’s reign as the WWE Intercontinental Champion already cemented him as an all-time great in the company, as he held the title for 666 days before dropping it to Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 40. He is as no-nonsense a wrestler as they come and he believes stipulation matches simply devolve into stunt shows.

GUNTHER has always given importance to the sanctity of the mat and his singular focus on winning in the wrestling ring. His impressive WWE Intercontinental Championship reign was marked by straightforward, no-frills wrestling, avoiding any gimmicks.

While speaking to Gorilla Position, GUNTHER was asked if he would consider participating in hardcore matches. He responded that while he wouldn’t shy away from them if necessary, he wouldn’t actively seek out such opportunities. Gunther expressed a fondness for traditional cage matches, which he views as a compelling attraction.

He criticized how many hardcore matches often devolve into stunt shows, focusing on risky jumps and high spots rather than storytelling. GUNTHER prefers to use the stipulations of a match logically, incorporating elements like a cage into a coherent narrative that enhances the story.

GUNTHER’s approach is to avoid risky stunts for the sake of spectacle, instead focusing on creating matches that are grounded and story-driven. For GUNTHER, the priority is to build a match around the stipulation in a way that makes sense and engages the audience without resorting to dangerous moves.

”If it’s necessary, I guess if I have to, but I would never be the guy that goes up to the boss and be like, ‘Hey, I really want to do a TLC match’ or some other crazy stipulation. I personally like Cage Matches, I think a proper old-school cage match is a really cool attraction, but I feel like a lot of those matches turn into stunt shows at a certain point, where it’s more about who can do the riskiest jump off something instead of, okay, that’s the stipulation we have. Let’s say the cage is involved, and how do we utilize that logically and for everybody to understand and take that and build a story around it. That would be my approach to it, rather than aiming for, ‘What can I do that’s so spectacular that it will be forever in people’s minds?’ I don’t know, that has never been my personal approach. It’s up to every performer themselves, how they approach those things, but yeah, just for the sake of having a spectacular match that has some risky stuff, I would not want to do that.”

GUNTHER also addressed his lack of involvement on WWE television for the past few weeks. Regardless, only time will tell whether he will ever get to compete in a stipulation match somewhere down the line, as The Ring General could certainly enhance it.

Are you in agreement with what GUNTHER had to say when it comes to stipulation matches in professional wrestling? Let us know in the comments section below!