3 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Unreal Season 2 (Review)

4. The Idea of Pat McAfee Beating Gunther

Gunther is the envy of every wrestling promotion on Earth. A one-of-a-kind in-ring performer, the enormous Austrian is the natural successor to Brock Lesnar when it comes to being the main event scene's alpha male villain character. He is a winning machine who has set WWE records and lives at the top of the food chain.

Gunther losing his World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 41 felt like a natural decision, given the fan momentum that Jey Uso had going for him and how much stock WWE had put in the Yeeting superstar to become a merch-selling behemoth. Gunther then entered a program with Pat McAfee and Michael Cole, in which he would play the schoolyard bully, taking out his WrestleMania frustrations on the lovable commentary duo who delighted in his downfall.

McAfee is one of America's most notorious broadcasters, and his willingness to accept a match with Gunther at Backlash sold him as a lovable everyman who wouldn't accept The Ring General's disrespect towards Michael Cole. Hearing Bruce Prichard pitch that McAfee should pick up a win against the record-breaking, dominant main eventer in Episode 1 of WWE Unreal was as close to insanity as it's possible to get. There has never been a clearer indication that Bruce was Vince McMahon's biggest enabler when it comes to bad booking decisions that piss off fans than this moment right here.