Many old records from years and decades past have been broken in WWE recently. Most of these records surround either Roman Reigns or his cousins the Usos, as both the world champion and the tag champions continue to either shatter records or inch ever closer to breaking historical ones.
But there’s another wrestler who is doing the same thing: GUNTHER.
Ever since he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship on June 10, 2022, GUNTHER has had one of the most dominant performances as IC Champion in the title’s history.
And with each passing day, he too gets closer to becoming the longest-reigning champion in the IC title’s history.
As of today’s date, March 18, 2023, GUNTHER’s IC title reign has reached 281 days in length. That makes this reign the fourth longest in the title’s history, having surpassed the 280-day reign of “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig, which went from November 19, 1990 to August 26, 1991.
And according to WrestleTalk, no IC title reign since the Honky Tonk Man’s from 1987 to 1988 has been as long as GUNTHER’s current reign.
GUNTHER’s current Intercontinental title reign is the longest in 35 years
“As of Saturday (March 18), GUNTHER has held the title for 281 days. Surpassing Mr Perfect’s 280 day reign from 1990, GUNTHER is now the longest reigning IC Champ since the Honky Tonk Man’s record reign of 454 days which began in 1987.”
If the former WALTER manages to hold the title for five more days from today, his reign will move up to the third-longest ever. That milestone is currently held by Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, who held the title for 285 days from September 24, 1984 to February 8, 1986.
Then, if the champion manages to retain his title at WrestleMania, then he would have to remain champion for several more months if he wants to break the last two remaining records for longest IC title reigns.
To surpass Randy Savage’s 414-day reign, GUNTHER would have to hold his title until the end of July 2023 (which would include successful title defenses at Backlash, King/Queen of the Ring, and Money In The Bank).
And to surpass Honky Tonk Man’s 454-day reign, he would have to hold the title until September 5, 2023, which would include a successful title defense at SummerSlam).
h/t WrestleTalk for the transcription