WWE's plan for Gunther after WrestleMania 41 praised by legendary manager
Gunther lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Jey Uso on the first night of WWE WrestleMania 41. Dutch Mantell, formerly known as Zeb Colter in WWE, is looking forward to watching The Ring General's next storyline.
On April 21, Gunther confronted RAW commentator Michael Cole before attempting to lock him in a submission hold. Cole's broadcast partner, Pat McAfee, tried to calm the situation down. However, Gunther continued his ringside attack by choking out the former NFL star.
Mantell said on his Story Time with Dutch Mantell podcast that he is excited to see McAfee step back into the ring:
"I would be interested in seeing that match because McAfee, he's won his first two matches, so I think they can kinda curate this and build this into something that other people would wanna see. I wanna see it already. I hope they just don't wear it out, and of course you will see McAfee probably leave his announcing desk in a match with Gunther, and go in there and try to put the hold on them." [1:41:04 – 1:41:35]
In 2022, McAfee defeated Austin Theory at WrestleMania 38 before recording another big win over Baron Corbin at SummerSlam. The 37-year-old also lost an impromptu bout against Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 38 before beating The Miz in another unplanned match at WrestleMania 39.
Why Dutch Mantell enjoyed WWE's booking of Gunther
Jey Uso celebrated his title victory with Jimmy Uso and Sami Zayn on RAW. Gunther, meanwhile, looks almost certain to move away from the World Heavyweight Championship picture to feud with Pat McAfee.
According to Dutch Mantell, WWE's creative team is right to immediately book the Austrian in a non-title storyline:
"This was a good step because wrestling fans, they have a future outlook on everything. Now they've already transitioned Gunther away from that loss, just disassociate with him. Now McAfee can talk he got his a** beat. That's the heat now, so he's gonna shut him up first." [1:42:11 – 1:42:40]
Mantell also recalled how a "highly toxic" backstage environment contributed to Bret Hart and Triple H's real-life animosity.
Please credit Story Time with Dutch Mantell and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
