6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (15 July - Results & Review)

by Scott Carlson

1. Gunther Brings The Fire

WWE Raw Damian Priest Gunther
WWE

Gunther has always been highly regarded for his wrestling, letting his actions do the talking rather than cutting lengthy promos. But in WWE, successful stars need to be able to work a mic.

The Ring General has proven during the past year that he absolutely can deliver on the mic, but Monday was a high-water mark for him, with a world title match at SummerSlam on the horizon. The video package that aired earlier on Raw perfectly laid out Gunther’s motives, and how he’s vastly different than every other wrestler, a decidedly anti-WWE superstar who doesn’t chase dreams or moments, but rather chase championships and prestige.

That set the tone for his face-to-face with Damian Priest, where Gunther proceeded to tear the World Heavyweight Champion down, denigrating his run as champ, belittling Priest’s upbringing, calling him trash, and suggesting he surrender the title to him to spare himself the embarrassment at SummerSlam.

If you finished watching that segment and didn’t despise Gunther, you clearly weren’t listening. The feud itself is a different story, but Gunther’s journey absolutely deserves high praise.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.