Published: May 9, 2026 by Liam | Last Updated: May 9, 2026 by Liam
Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news for over eight years, and is currently the Managing Editor at WrestleTalk.com. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles in addition to leading and overseeing WrestleTalk.com's coverage.
WWE
Paul Heyman’s favor to GUNTHER is an Undisputed WWE Championship against Cody Rhodes at the Clash In Italy premium live event.
Ahead of WrestleMania, as Seth Rollins was tormenting Paul Heyman following his return from injury, GUNTHER attacked Rollins which led to their match at WrestleMania 42.
For dealing with Rollins, Heyman thanked GUNTHER, but GUNTHER said a thank you wasn’t enough and Heyman now owed him a favor.
On tonight’s SmackDown, that favor was revealed, one week after GUNTHER attacked WWE Champion Cody Rhodes.
Heyman revealed tonight that his favor to GUNTHER was to use his pull in WWE to set up a championship match between GUNTHER and Rhodes.
Rhodes said they could have that match tonight on SmackDown, but Heyman pointed out that’s not what the contract says.
The date in the contract is May 31 at WWE Clash In Italy at the Inalpi Arena in Turin.
After Heyman explained the situation to Rhodes and left, GUNTHER attempted to attack Rhodes from behind, but Rhodes just about managed to counter and GUNTHER retreated, before Rhodes left him with his new catchphrase – that he’s “easy to find, but hard to beat.”
Should GUNTHER Defeat Cody Rhodes At WWE Clash In Italy
Cody Rhodes is one of the very few men that has ever beaten GUNTHER in WWE – doing so in the 2024 Crown Jewel Championship match.
The question is whether Rhodes should go 2-0 or GUNTHER should even it up in their particular head to head.
There were said to be plans for Rhodes to drop the WWE Champion to Randy Orton at WrestleMania before things played out differently and a lot of plans changed with Pat McAfee leaving TV.
There has been a lot of ‘hot potato’ with the WWE Title in recent months – which isn’t inherently a bad thing, but if GUNTHER does win, it might be that a lengthy reign is the direction to go.
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