Top WWE Star SHOCKINGLY Out Of WrestleMania 42?! (WWE News)

There's a very real chance Gunther misses WWE WrestleMania 42.

Mar 19, 2026 March 19th, 2026

Having sent John Cena and AJ Styles into retirement in back-to-back months, it seems unfathomable that WWE wouldn't have a major spot for Gunther at WrestleMania 42. However, as it stands, there appears to be a very real chance that the Ring General could be entirely absent from this year's Showcase of the Immortals.

Per Bodyslam+, Gunther was originally scheduled to face Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 42. Unfortunately, a rib injury Mysterio suffered prior to the Royal Rumble has thrown those plans up in the air. Rey is in a race to be cleared in time to go up against the big Austrian, and if the WWE Hall of Famer isn't back for 'Mania, it's currently unclear if Gunther would have a match at all.

Recent weeks and months suggested that Rey Mysterio was the direction Gunther might move in for WrestleMania 42, with the former two-time World Heavyweight Champion taking on the moniker of the Career Killer after those wins over Cena and Styles, as he threatened to put down certain other all-time greats. Added to that, Gunther ripping off Dragon Lee's mask on Raw earlier this month was a clear sign of disrespect to lucha libre. So, if looking for a legend for Gunther to face, with ties to Dragon Lee and lucha libre, Rey Mysterio is a perfect fit.

Should that match happen, purely from your writer's viewpoint, it seems unlikely that Rey would be sent into retirement, with there surely only one option to be Mysterio's final ever opponent: Dominik Mysterio.

Either way, it sounds like there's a genuine possibility that Gunther may completely miss WrestleMania 42. Given how he walked into WrestleMania 41 as the defending World Heavyweight Champion, that would certainly be quite the drop.

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Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

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