WWE SmackDown Star Says He "Outgrew" NXT

This WWE SmackDown man felt like he'd outgrown the NXT system before moving up.

by Jamie Kennedy
Gunther WWE
WWE.com

Pro wrestling machine and chest-melting powerhouse GUNTHER felt like he quickly "outgrew" WWE's NXT system before moving up to the main roster in April 2022.

The reigning Intercontinental Champion admitted this during an interview with the Dallas Morning News - GUNTHER said that he found NXT "exciting" at first, but then started craving a new challenge he could sink his teeth into. That, naturally, meant jumping to either Raw or SmackDown.

Numerous reports since last year have claimed that Vince McMahon wanted to demote the big Austrian before retiring in July. It'll be interesting for fans to see what'll happen with GUNTHER now that McMahon is back in the fold, not least because Triple H has booked him consistently as a top attraction on SmackDown.

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Will that continue? Hopefully.

GUNTHER is hopeful too, because he's been relishing the chance to show what he can do on a bigger stage. That's something he wanted towards the end of his NXT run, and it was a similar scenario when he was riding high as a top guy on the old NXT UK show.

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The IC Champ is ambitious, and rightly so.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.