The seven stars who have pinned or submitted GUNTHER in WWE: The stories behind each of Ring General’s losses

WWE

The latest episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown saw GUNTHER take a rare pinfall loss, coming up short in his Money in the Bank qualifying match.

The closing moments saw Finn Balor hit GUNTHER with a Coup De Grace, with CM Punk stealing the pin to punch his ticket for the October 10 premium live event.

Finn Balor was just fingertips away from joining the very exclusive group of stars who have pinned and submitted GUNTHER on WWE TV.

Just seven stars have defeated GUNTHER under these conditions, including…

Drew McIntyre – Survivor Series 2019

A result which was confusing at the time, and one which has only gotten more bewildering following the Ring General’s dominance in the years since.

Out of the 15 men involved in the Raw vs SmackDown vs NXT elimination three-way tag-team match at Survivor Series 2019, GUNTHER – then-WALTER – was the first star eliminated from the match.

Not only this, GUNTHER was pinned by Drew McIntyre less than three minutes after the opening bell, despite not even being the NXT representative to start the match.

With GUNTHER going on to become one of the most dominant stars in WWE history, it can be easy to forget that he was sent to hit the showers just minutes into his first main roster PLE appearance.

Ilja Dragunov – NXT TakeOver 36 (2021)

With Ilja Dragunov and “WALTER” making headlines with their NXT UK Championship match on the October 29, 2020 NXT UK episode during the pandemic era, the highly-anticipated rematch took place at NXT TakeOver 36, the following August.

At NXT’s final TakeOver event, ahead of the 2.0 rebrand, Ilja Dragunov forced the Ring General to tap out in the center of the ring to end GUNTHER’s 870 NXT UK Championship reign.

With Ilja Dragunov’s recent exit, the Mad Russian is the only star to pin or submit GUNTHER in a WWE ring who is no longer with the company.

Bron Breakker – WWE NXT April 5, 2022

Following Bron Breakker regaining the NXT Championship at Stand & Deliver 2022, The Ring General challenged for Breakker’s gold on the next episode of NXT TV.

Breakker was ultimately victorious, pinning GUNTHER after 13 minutes of action to retain his gold, and become the third individual to put away the Austrian star in WWE.

This would ultimately be GUNTHER’s final match on NXT, with the Ring General moving to SmackDown later that month.

Sami Zayn WrestleMania 40 (2024)

GUNTHER went on to dominate on the main roster, winning the Intercontinental Championship in June 2022, and destroying everyone in his path.

Sami Zayn ultimately ended GUNTHER’s reign, pinning the Ring General at WrestleMania 40 to end the star’s 666 day Intercontinental Title run.

It took everything Zayn had to put GUNTHER away, even bringing back his top-rope brainbuster to end the longest Intercontinental Championship reign in WWE history.

Cody Rhodes – Crown Jewel 2024, Clash in Italy 2026, SmackDown June 19, 2026

The 2024 Crown Jewel event saw the introduction of the Crown Jewel Championship, which is now awarded annually to the winner of a clash between the Undisputed WWE Champion and World Heavyweight Champion.

Cody Rhodes became the inaugural Crown Jewel Champion that November, reversing GUNTHER’s sleeper hold into a successful pin to put away the Ring General.

Rhodes also scored pinfall victories over GUNTHER in WWE Title matches at Clash in Italy and on SmackDown earlier this year, however both falls came under controversial circumstances.

At Clash in Italy, the referee counted the fall despite GUNTHER deliberately placing his leg under the bottom rope, which legally should’ve broken the count. The June 19 SmackDown episode saw Special Referee Sami Zayn perform a fast-count to cost the Ring General the match.

Jey Uso WrestleMania 41

After Crown Jewel 2024, the next star to defeat GUNTHER in singles action was Jey Uso.

Main Event Jey won the 2025 Royal Rumble, and chose to challenge his biggest foe, GUNTHER, for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Following weeks of taunting Jey Uso and his family, GUNTHER was defeated by submission, with Jey hitting multiple Uso Splashes before making the champion tap out to a sleeper hold.

The opening match at WrestleMania 41 ended with the Allegiant Stadium crowd “Yeet”ing, following Jey Uso becoming World Heavyweight Champion.

CM Punk – SummerSlam 2025, SmackDown September 25, 2026

The most recent star to pin GUNTHER, CM Punk holds two pinfall victories over the former World Heavyweight Champion.

CM Punk challenged for the World Heavyweight Title in the main event of SummerSlam 2025 Saturday. While Punk was ultimately victorious, his win was overshadowed by Seth Rollins, who revealed that he had faked his injury, before cashing in his Money in the Bank contract to take the world title in the “Ruse of the Century.”

More recently, Punk pinned GUNTHER in a three-way match also featuring Finn Balor on the September 25 SmackDown episode to qualify for the October 10 Money in the Bank ladder match.

While this result did sting for Finn Balor fans – especially as Punk stole the pin following Balor hitting GUNTHER with a Coup De Grace – there are several reasons why it made sense for CM Punk to win this match.

To make sure you stay up to date with all the biggest wrestling and WrestleTalk news, follow us on Threads by clicking this link!

• wwe
• GUNTHER

Share this article with friends