100 Greatest WWE WrestleMania Moments
74. An IC Triple Threat Rocks The House (WrestleMania 39)
It got lost for a good while there, but the workhorse tag has been restored to the beloved Intercontinental Title in recent years. Champions like GUNTHER went a long way towards giving the secondary belt credibility again, but anybody who watched the Austrian's work as NXT UK Champ knew main roster fans could rely on him to up the ante and make things whole again.
Pretty much every GUNTHER title defence between June 2022-April 2024 was majestic. At WrestleMania 39 in 2023, the Imperium leader faced Sheamus and Drew McIntyre in a triple threat match that looked like being one of those buzzword bangers everyone talks about on paper. On paper is one thing, but how a match fares in execution is most important. Good news: GUNTHER vs. Sheamus vs. Drew was a love letter to anyone who puts IC on a pedestal.
At 16 minutes in length, it was perfectly formatted. The typical 'one in, one out' nature of three ways in WWE didn't affect anything, because people were eager to see any combination of this trio belting the crap out of each other. Poor Bianca Belair and Asuka had to try and follow this immediately afterwards. They did just fine, which speaks to their skills, but yeah - they must've been sweating when warming up and seeing what the Intercontinental lads were up to.
GUNTHER arrived at 'Mania, McIntyre's frustrations continued to build, and Sheamus took one step closer to being a respected favourite with more IC Title scorchers in his future. What a match this was, and what a moment GUNTHER's match-winning powerbomb provided.