Next WWE star for GUNTHER to retire: Two wrestlers who could face the Ring General in their farewell matches

WWE

With GUNTHER establishing himself as the Career Killer in WWE, there has been some speculation about the next star to potentially end their career with a match against the Ring General.

GUNTHER first served as Goldberg’s retirement opponent, defending the World Heavyweight Championship against the Hall of Famer at the July 12, 2025 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event.

After winning the Last Time is Now tournament, GUNTHER then faced John Cena in his retirement match at the December 13, 2025 Saturday Night’s Main Event special, with the Ring General picking up the victory.

There was a different dynamic for Royal Rumble 2026, with AJ Styles putting his career on the line in his match against GUNTHER. The former World Heavyweight Champion choked the Phenomenal One unconscious to end the bout, and Styles’ career as an active competitor.

Fans have criticised GUNTHER’s booking in the months since then, with the top star unsuccessfully challenging for the Undisputed WWE Championship numerous times over the summer, and suffering rare pinfall losses to Cody Rhodes.

GUNTHER went on to defeat Nick Aldis at SummerSlam, however Aldis didn’t officially announce his retirement after the match, so we’ll have to wait and see if Aldis returns to the ring before we can add him to the Career Killer’s tally.

With the Ring General not having ended a career in some time, there are some names we could see lose to GUNTHER in their farewell matches.

Here are two stars who could be retired at the hands of GUNTHER.

Booker T

Before AJ Styles, John Cena, and even Goldberg, GUNTHER technically retired Booker T… Until the Hall of Famer decided to return to the ring away from WWE.

Booker T made a surprise in-ring return in the 2023 Royal Rumble match, surviving for just 42 seconds ahead of being eliminated by GUNTHER.

The NXT commentator announced that he had retired from in-ring competition following this bout, but ultimately returned to action for his Reality of Wrestling promotion in January 2025 to face Zilla Fatu.

With Booker T recently hinting that he could lace up his boots again in the future, having GUNTHER retire the legend for technically the second time would help to reassert the Ring General as the “Career Killer”.

Rey Mysterio

Following AJ Styles bidding farewell at Royal Rumble, it was heavily speculated that GUNTHER’s next target would be Rey Mysterio.

Mysterio has teased his retirement several times over the past few years, with the star notably stepping aside to let other luchadores compete in the recent World Heavyweight Championship #1 contender’s tournament.

With Rey’s daughter Aalyah recently putting pen to paper with WWE, we could be close to seeing a father-daughter tag-team match, allowing Mysterio to complete his career bucket list.

Once this happens, we could see GUNTHER end Rey Mysterio’s in-ring career, allowing him to focus on his role as AAA general manager.

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• wwe
• retirement
• GUNTHER

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