Gunther Explains Why He Was Resistant To Signing With WWE Earlier In Career

It's safe to say that Gunther has been one of the biggest success stories in all of WWE over the past few years. A champion on the main roster, "WWE NXT" and even "WWE NXT UK," "The Ring General" has gone on to become one of the most feared individuals in all of wrestling, especially after retiring both Goldberg and John Cena in 2025. However, there were some long-time fans of the man formerly known as WALTER who were worried that the Austrian star wouldn't be allowed to reach his full potential in WWE, and during a recent appearance on "The Masked Man Show," Gunther was asked if he had some of those same fears.

"Yes I did and that's why I didn't sign with them for a bit before I actually went," Gunther said. "It was definitely a thought. I never saw myself in WWE, I always thought I would, if things go well, I would work in Japan and that's my jam and that's where I fit. That never happened really and yeah, now we're here, so it's like it shows it's like it's hard to predict. You should never like cancel anything out in your life when it comes to possibilities and stuff like that, and I never expected it to fit that well as it does, but here we are and I think as long as I can be here and be a good contrast to everybody else and provide something different, I think that's why it fits and as long as I can do it, I think I'm going to have a good position here."

Gunther's run on the main roster might not have been as successful as it has been had it not been for Paul "Triple H" Levesque taking over the creative direction of WWE in the summer of 2022. This is mainly because of the fact that Vince McMahon wasn't a fan of "The Ring General," which in turn put Gunther off the WWE product under McMahon's leadership.

Please credit "The Masked Man Show" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.