Gunther's Next Challenger For WWE Intercontinental Title Is...

Surprising superstar wins battle royal to earn title match at Night of Champions.

by Scott Carlson
WWE Raw GUNTHER
WWE

Mustafa Ali is your new #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship, winning a battle royal on Raw Monday night to punch his ticket to face Gunther at Night of Champions later this month.

Ali survived until the final three of a battle royal that saw Bronson Reed dominate much of the match and eliminate the biggest participants along the way. Mustafa and Ricochet teamed up to try to knock the big Aussie out, but Reed caught Ricochet on the apron and was looking to dump him when Ali dropkicked both men off the apron to win.

Later in the evening, Mustafa ran into Gunther backstage, leading to the IC champ congratulating and lamenting his challenger's fate. Ali turned it back around, suggesting that it was Gunther who would be traveling halfway around the world to be disappointed.

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The win is obviously Ali's biggest in quite some time, as he has been floundering in the lower tiers of Raw until very recently. His Positive-Ali gimmick has led to some beatdowns and confrontations, but he's at least been getting consistent TV time, working four matches since WrestleMania (and winning three of them).

While it's difficult to bet against Gunther and his historic Intercontinental Championship reign, it's worth noting that Ali will have his first PLE match since losing a United States Championship match to Austin Theory at Hell in a Cell last June.

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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.