Veteran explains why Gunther could refuse Goldberg's retirement match in 2025
WWE has presumably booked itself into a corner, as all signs point to Jey Uso upsetting Gunther at The Show of Shows after weeks of torture Main event Jey has endured at the hands of the World Heavyweight Champion.
Veteran Dutch Mantell considers The Ring General a rare breed and feels the company should not hurt the Austrian wrestler by handing him more losses. Although seeds were sown for Goldberg's retirement match in October 2024, Mantell says the 37-year-old could refuse to face the WCW legend.
Speaking on Story Time with Dutch Mantell, the 75-year-old veteran brought up Goldberg's inconsistent timeline of matches in WWE. He cannot fathom a scenario where Gunther loses to the former Universal Champion.
"But to put [Gunther] in with a guy like Goldberg, who comes along once every two-three years, plus he is close to 60. No! I wouldn't blame the guy, but I'm not doing it," Dutch Mantell said. "And to put my buddy out there, [a guy] I predicted a good future for, to put him out there and have him [lose], no, I wouldn't do it." [From 1:20:15 to 1:20:36]
You can check out his comments in the video below:
At Bad Blood 2024, the World Heavyweight Champion called Goldberg a "one-trick pony" in front of the WCW legend's wife and son. Goldberg revealed he was open to stepping inside the squared circle one last time against The Ring General.
Jey Uso's father urges him to "choke out" Gunther ahead of WrestleMania 41
Gunther has lived up to his claim that he would put Jey Uso through "10 weeks of hell" until WrestleMania 41 because the 2025 Men's Royal Rumble winner chose to challenge him. He has choked out Main Event Jey several times on RAW during that period.
WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi believes something unprecedented could happen before The Show of Shows at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. More importantly, he wondered how many times could his son Jey even see the World Heavyweight Champion choke him out. He also said that Uso should give The Ring General a taste of his own medicine.
"A lot of things can happen within the next four weeks. I'm waiting for Jey to choke his a** out. I'm getting tired of seeing Gunther come through and choke my boy out on national TV. [...] I mean, how long can you take getting choked out?" Rikishi said.
This past Monday, Jimmy Uso reunited with Main Event Jey on RAW in a winning effort against Austin Theory and Grayson Waller. But post-match, The Ring General got the better of the 2025 Men's Royal Rumble winner yet again, before Big Jim made the save.
Please credit the source and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use the quote from the first part of this article.
