WWE Had Major Raw Plans For Gunther - Wasn't First Choice For Cody Rhodes (WWE News)
Gunther was initially going to feud with Roman Reigns, but WWE's plans changed.
The Wrestling Observer reports that Gunther had already filmed promos for a feud opposite Roman Reigns over on Raw before his SmackDown jump and program with Cody Rhodes.
Dave Meltzer claims that WWE were set to push Gunther into a World Heavyweight Title rivalry with the 'OTC' on Mondays and continue Randy Orton's pursuit of Cody's WWE Title on Friday nights. Then, everything switched around - Jacob Fatu became Roman's first challenger after he beat CM Punk for Raw's top belt, and Gunther targeted Rhodes.
Meanwhile, there's no word on exactly when Randy will be back in the mix. He dropped Cody with a sickening punt after their WrestleMania 42 encounter, but hasn't been a big part of SmackDown since. His ex-manager Pat McAfee has also kissed goodbye to pro wrestling for now, which scrapped a planned tag-team bout pitting the pair vs. Cody and Jelly Roll for Backlash.
There's been a lot of change behind the scenes creatively then.
Gunther shockingly ambushed Rhodes on the 1 May SmackDown, and the pair have since lined up a title collision for Clash In Italy on 31 May. Neither has signed the contract for that bout yet, but it's been explained away as imminent on TV - Gunther is also teasing that securing a WWE Title shot is the favour Paul Heyman owed him after taking down Seth Rollins.
Somehow, this will all make sense in the end, but the company might have to come back to Orton vs. Rhodes and reflect that punt at some point. For now, they're happy to go with Roman vs. Fatu and Cody vs. Gunther.