Following his win over Seth Rollins at Wrestlemania 42, Gunther is eyeing the world championship gold. The former World Heavyweight Champion made a shocking appearance on Smackdown to attack Cody Rhodes. Cody was in the ring after his win over Ricky Saints when Gunther attacked him from behind. He turned his attention towards the title and lifted it to send a clear message to Cody. The Ring General has never competed for the Undisputed WWE Championship. The title was renamed from the Undisputed Universal Championship to Undisputed WWE Championship after winning it with a victory over Roman Reigns in the main event of Wrestlemania 40.
Gunther is a two-time World Heavyweight Champion. He won the title with a win over Damian Priest at SummerSlam 2024. He dropped the title to Jey Uso in the opening match of Wrestlemania 41.
Just 51 days later, Gunther defeated Jey on Raw after Money in the Bank 2025 to regain the title. He lost it to CM Punk in the main event of SummerSlam. Punk would just regain the title for five minutes as Rollins cashed his Money in the Bank briefcase to regain it. Gunther hasn’t had a world championship match since then.
When will Gunther challenge Cody?
The title match between Gunther and Cody won’t take place at Backlash 2026. WWE could book this match for Night of Champions or SummerSlam. Cody could ask Gunther to win the King of the Ring and earn the right to challenge him.
Randy Orton, who failed to defeat Cody at Wrestlemaina 42, is also aiming for the title. Despite losing the main event, he ended the night 1 of Wrestlemania with the title in his hand. He also hit Cody with a punt kick.
WWE teased a future match between Punk and Cody on Smackdown after Wrestlemania. And now, Gunther wants the championship gold. WWE decided against booking multi-man WWE Championship match for Wrestlemania and Cody isn’t expected to defend the title against more than one superstar at a time looks unlikely.
Meanwhile, the World Heavyweight Championship will be defended at Backlash and Roman Reigns will face his cousin, Jacob Fatu. Reigns defeated Punk to win the title for the first time.
