GUNTHER 'taking a break' from WWE after major championship win

WWE superstar GUNTHER announced he is taking a break after an epic win over The Miz.

The 36-year-old wrestler, who is the longest running Intercontinental Champion of all time at 556 days after beating Honky Tonk Man’s record earlier this year, defeated the A-Lister in a barnstormer of a match on Monday Night Raw.

The result meant Miz won’t be able to challenge for the IC Title again as long as the Ring General holds the gold.

Backstage after the match, GUNTHER was seen talking to his Imperium teammates Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci as he confirmed he will be absent for a little while over the festive season.

He told the duo he is ‘stepping away for a few weeks to recharge,’ while he urged them both to get back to winning ways while he’s gone.

‘As far as I understand, you two have no reason to be all jolly and celebrating. As far as I understand, I’m the only one contributing to this. The whole last year for you two was a complete write-off,’ he argued.

‘So as I deserve it, as the legendary champion I am, I’m gonna step away for a few weeks and recharge.

‘You two? You guys stay here, and I expect you to grind, I expect you to work hard, and finally impress me. Carry on.’

Elsewhere on this week’s episode of Raw, GUNTHER may have been successful in his title defence, but the same can’t be said for Chelsea Green and Piper Niven, as they lost the Women’s Tag Team Championships to Kayden Carter and Katana Chance.

The show got underway with a real upset as R-Truth beat JD McDonagh in the seasonal Mircale on 34th Street Fight, while there was drama in the main event as Damian Priest and Finn Balor retained their tag titles over the Creed Brothers.

Viewers also saw Shinsuke Nakamura rattle Cody Rhodes with a dark take on a Christmas tale, but the American Nightmare found him backstage and went on the attack.

Ivar made relatively short work of Akira Tozawa, while Kaiser found himself on the wrong end of an Uso Splash as he lost to Jey Uso.

WWE Raw airs Monday nights at 1am on TNT Sports 1.

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