Gunther Becomes WWE's Longest-Reigning Intercontinental Champion at 455 Days
September 7, 2023
Gunther officially became the longest-reigning Intercontinental champion in WWE history Thursday, surpassing the record previously held by WWE Hall of Famer The Honky Tonk Man.
WWE recognized The Ring General's accomplishment on X, formerly known as Twitter, and celebrated his 455th consecutive day as IC champ:
WWE Hall of Famer and head of creative Triple H also acknowledged Gunther cementing himself as arguably the greatest Intercontinental champion of all time:
Triple H @TripleHDefining his own legacy. And this is just the beginning...<br><br>Congratulations to <a href="https://twitter.com/Gunther_AUT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Gunther_AUT</a> on making history as the longest-reigning <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ICChampion?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ICChampion</a> EVER. <a href="https://t.co/X48i2ZNtf5">https://t.co/X48i2ZNtf5</a>
On Monday night's episode of Raw, Gunther faced Chad Gable in the main event with the understanding that he would eclipse The Honky Tonk Man's record reign of 454 days if he managed to retain.
Gable had beaten Gunther by count-out in a previous meeting, and while he came close to dethroning Gunther on numerous occasions Monday night, the leader of Imperium put Gable down with a fury of high-impact offense to win by pinfall.
The Honky Tonk Man beat fellow Hall of Famer Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat for the IC title in June 1987 and dropped it to another Hall of Famer in The Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam in August of 1988.
Warrior beat Honky Tonk in a matter of seconds, but his record for 454 days as intercontinental champion stood for a remarkable 35 years until Gunther broke it.
Gunther won the title from Ricochet on the June 10, 2022, episode of SmackDown shortly after getting called up to the main roster from NXT, and he proceeded to beat several big-name Superstars to retain it over the next 455 days.
Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Rey Mysterio, Shinsuke Nakamura and Braun Strowman are just a few of the challengers who fell to him along the way.
Gunther has not lost a televised singles match by pinfall or submission since arriving from NXT, and there is no end in sight to his incredible run as intercontinental champion.
Given his dominance, it won't be at all surprising if Gunther adds months and even years to his newly established record.
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