Official Confirmation On Gunther’s Next Move In WWE After Shocking Assault
The former World Champion Gunther made his presence felt on WWE SmackDown in a surprising attack.
Gunther has had an interesting start to 2026 after reitring AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble. In the months that followed, Gunther wasn’t featured as much as some fans liked, but then he attacked Seth Rollins a few weeks before WrestleMania.
That Gunther attack on Rollins led to a WrestleMania 42 match, in which Gunther defeated Rollins in a bout between former World Champions on the Raw brand. It wasn’t a clean win for Gunther since Bron Breakker interfered, but the proud Austrian likely isn’t going to complain after picking up a big victory.
After WrestleMania, it wasn’t known what was next for the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion in history, but an apparent change in brands has now made things clear.
On WWE SmackDown in Tulsa, the Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes faced his good friend Ricky Saints in Saints’ first match as a SmackDown wrestler. Rhodes won the match, despite having a black eye.
Following the match, Cody Rhodes celebrated with the WWE Title when Gunther arrived and applied a Sleeper on Cody. Gunther let go and applied another Sleeper on Cody, who sold it like he was passed out. Referees showed up, so Gunther let go and left.
Later on SmackDown, it was announced that Gunther would appear on the May 8th edition of SmackDown to address his attack on Rhodes.
WWE has yet to announce if Gunther has officially joined SmackDown, or if it’s just a feud that he is having with Rhodes over the WWE Title.
.@Gunther_AUT has his sights set on the Undisputed WWE Championship 😳 pic.twitter.com/A1raFyFt1q
— WWE (@WWE) May 2, 2026
“Gunther Really Is Turning Into A Career Killer” – Cody Rhodes
On the subject of Gunther retiring WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg, WWE legend John Cena and WWE Hall of Famer AJ Styles, Cody Rhodes made it clear that he didn’t want to see any more major retirements any time soon.
“I don’t want any more retirements. We’re saying goodbye way too much to too many people.”
Regarding the AJ Styles retirement, Cody Rhodes thought it was handled well.
“AJ is incredible. He’s one of the few people who wrestled not just me, but my brother and my dad. He’s a true game-changing performer.
I loved how WWE handled it — especially the inclusion of The Undertaker. That was a complete surprise to everyone, and then to say, ‘You’re going into the Hall of Fame’ was a really beautiful way to go out.”
That led Cody to praise Gunther as a career killer.
“It’s never easy. To see John tap out, to see AJ go down like that — Gunther really is turning into the career killer. It’s more than just the moniker. Hopefully someone can put an end to that.
But I don’t want any retirements for a while. Let’s do debuts. I like that. New beginnings. New blood. New beginnings.”
It’s not yet known whether the Cody Rhodes-Gunther match will be at WWE Backlash on May 9th or if WWE will delay it until another show down the road. Whenever it happens, it’s obviously a big match where Rhodes’ WWE Title will be in jeopardy.
Also Read: Brandi Rhodes Makes Big Revelation After Gunther’s Attack On Cody Rhodes On WWE SmackDown