This was already going better than anybody could have expected before Vince McMahon resigned in disgrace, but Gunther's time on the main roster - and particularly as Intercontinental Champion - since Triple H took over has yielded WWE's best match of the year, several supremely strong television encounters, and splinter feuds with Imperium that have gotten others over as some of the biggest babyfaces on SmackDown.
It's a tremendously impressive CV made even better by what might have been had McMahon not been given the heave-ho. Rumours swirled of a rote anti-America gimmick coming the titleholder's way, which speaks to the short-terminism that had cursed the company and countless talents for years.
It's not to say Gunther couldn't have rolled with these specific new punches, but it's far more satisfying to see him not have to. The thriving SmackDown star has elevated the status of the secondary strap beyond anything it's been in years - doing the all-important show-not-tell trick about five thousand Intercontinental Champions failed to do before him.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years.
As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say.
With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling.
Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.
