8 Most Unthinkable WWE Changes Since Roman Reigns Became Champion

All rise for your Intercontinental Champion.

With Roman's part-time schedule, Gunther has had the opportunity to fill the box office attraction void on Smackdown and 'The Ring General' has made that position his own.

Not only is he chasing records of his own with The Honky Tonk Man's record of 454 days as Intercontinental Champion firmly in his sights, but the Austrian has been involved in some of the greatest WWE matches of the modern era.

However, it wasn't always plain sailing to get to the top.

When Reigns' dominant run began, the then-WALTER was in the midst of his own historic WWE title reign with the NXT UK Championship and was just about to go to war with Ilja Dragunov for the first time. The match with Ilja was a breakthrough for both competitors but really set 'The Ring General' on his rapid rise through WWE.

As Roman hit one full year as champion, WALTER lost his title to Dragunov and was later renamed before being turned into a jobber for rising NXT stars to beat under the 2.0 rebrand. Despite reported pushbacks from a certain McMahon, Gunther defied the NXT callup curse and slotted right into the blue brand where he won the prestigious Intercontinental strip 63 days after making his proper main roster debut.

During that time, he also collated four 5-star match ratings from the Wrestling Observer. Speaking of...