Gunther Defeats Drew McIntyre, Sheamus; Retains IC Title at WWE WrestleMania 39
Gunther beat both Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a Triple Threat match on Night 2 of WWE WrestleMania 39 on Sunday to retain the Intercontinental Championship. The match was a hard-hitting affair that is likely to be regarded as an instant classic.
The Ring General was in search of a singular IC title challenger entering WrestleMania, but a series of unique events led to both McIntyre and Sheamus earning a championship opportunity on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
A few weeks ago on SmackDown, McIntyre called out Gunther and challenged him to an intercontinental title match at WrestleMania, but Sheamus immediately stormed out to confront his friend.
The Celtic Warrior expressed disbelief that McIntyre was trying to jump ahead of him, knowing that Sheamus had been trying to get another crack at Gunther since losing to him at Clash at the Castle in September and in a subsequent rematch the following month.
As McIntyre and Sheamus were arguing about who should face Gunther at WrestleMania, a cavalcade of other Superstars emerged in LA Knight, Karrion Kross and New Day, resulting in a melee.
That led to WWE official Adam Pearce booking a Fatal 5-Way match between McIntyre, Sheamus, Knight, Kross and Xavier Woods, with the winner going on to challenge Gunther at WrestleMania.
The Scottish Warrior and Sheamus both scored pinfalls at the same time in the match, and when Gunther made it clear to Pearce that he only wanted one WrestleMania opponent, Pearce booked a final No. 1 contender's match between McIntyre and Sheamus.
As McIntyre and Sheamus were pushing each other to their limits, Gunther stepped inside the ring to degrade them. Imperium members Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser then attacked McIntyre and Sheamus from behind, causing a double disqualification.
That left Pearce with no choice other than to grant both McIntyre and Sheamus a title match at WrestleMania in the form of a Triple Threat.
In what was the first WrestleMania match of Gunther's career, he had to deal with two of the toughest and most veteran members of the WWE roster at the same time.
That would have spelled the end of most title reigns, but Gunther's dominant run continued with a win at the Showcase of the Immortals, inching him closer to the 300-day mark as champion.
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