GUNTHER has explained why he decided to cash in his favor from Paul Heyman in order to get an Undisputed WWE Title match with Cody Rhodes at Clash in Italy 2026.
In the opening hour of this Sunday’s WWE Clash in Italy premium live event, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will defend his championship against “The Ring General” GUNTHER, in what will be only their second ever one-on-one encounter.
Perhaps fuelled by his defeat to Rhodes in their first match against each other back at WWE Crown Jewel 2024, GUNTHER decided to attack “The American Nightmare” on the May 1 episode of SmackDown, before officially cashing in the favor from Paul Heyman that he earned by helping “The Oracle” take out Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 42.
“The Ring General” used said favor to get a shot at Rhodes’ WWE Title at Clash in Italy, and during his appearance on ESPN Get Up ahead of this Sunday’s event, GUNTHER was asked to explain that decision.
GUNTHER said:
“Cody is obviously the golden boy of WWE and he seems very comfortable in that position. I’ve done so much in such a short time since I’ve been in WWE and I think it’s time to get even with Cody, I’d like to disrupt his comfort.”
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Immediately after explaining his reasons for facing Cody, ESPN’s Mike Greenberg passed on a message to GUNTHER from Cody Rhodes, with “The American Nightmare” telling the Get Up host to remind his challenger that he defeated him the last time they met at WWE Crown Jewel 2024.
Not impressed by Cody’s “attention seeking” ways, GUNTHER responded:
“That’s exactly what it’s about with Cody, attention seeker. He really thrives off that. Even in my allocated time as a guest on this show, he finds a way to pass on a message. He can say whatever he wants, I know when that bell rings I’m a better wrestler than Cody is.
“And we’re in Italy, that’s almost home turf from me, that’s Europe, I grew up in Austria which is very close and it’s going to be a different atmosphere. I think he’s not going to be used to that and I’m very positive going into this one.”
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Despite GUNTHER’s confidence that he will be the home favorite at Clash in Italy, Cody Rhodes recently called this into question – click here for his full comments.
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