Gunther has a track record of being a champion for most of his career in WWE so far, but as used to we are as seeing him with a belt around his waist, it's just trunks again for now as he lost the World Heavyweight Championship at WWE SummerSlam Saturday on August 2, 2025.
Surprisingly, though, even dropping the title to CM Punk wasn't the end of the night, as Seth Rollins had something else in mind by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract to steal it right out from under Punk's nose!
How did this go down tonight, what led to this, and what could be on the horizon? Let's break it all down!
How We Got Here:
While their paths have crossed a few times since CM Punk's return to WWE, he and Gunther had more of a series of brief interactions of contention rather than a deep-seated rivalry. In some ways, they even respect each other, but once The Voice of the Voiceless became No. 1 contender after winning a gauntlet match on the July 14th episode of Monday Night Raw, their focus against each other turned into more of an adversarial tone than ever before.
Gunther claimed that Punk had no right to call himself "The Best in the World" as he always does, while Punk degraded The Ring General as a "kid" that wasn't on the same level as he is, and that he needed the title as The Straight Edge Superstar's only real addiction is success in professional wrestling, and he wanted to repay the fans for their continued love and support of him over the years, including the near decade that he was away from the scene.
Match Details:
No matter what Gunther threw Punk's way out of his regular repertoire—powerbombs, Sharpshooters, sleeper holds, and a bevy of chops that you'd lose count trying to keep track of—The Second City Savior kept getting back up, determined to come out on top.
And that, he did, after not just one GTS, but a second one was finally able to take Gunther out of the mix just long enough for Punk to score a pinfall and win his first world title in WWE since 2009.
But it wasn't more than a minute or so after that, while still celebrating in the ring, that Punk was then targeted by Seth Freakin' Rollins, walking out (supported by crutches) alongside Paul Heyman, only to ditch the crutches and go down to the ring to cash in his Money in the Bank contract.
Taking advantage of an exhausted Punk, Rollins put some finishing touches on him and stomped him out, pinning the newly-crowned champion to snatch the title out from underneath him and steal it.
Personal Reactions & What Happens Next?:
WWE made it fully transparent that the plan is to run with this Seth Rollins faction over the course from WrestleMania 41 until WrestleMania 42. This injury that Rollins suffered—supposedly, if it even was real to begin with—saw to potentially derail those plans. But that didn't actually happen, so they're back on track. Whether we look back on this and think that's a good thing or not remains to be seen, but I'm glad at how this went down at least for now. While I was calling it from a mile away, there was still doubt in my mind that I would be right with that suspicion and prediction. I'm sure this got a lot of people, and that's always a positive when you're not fully predictable.
Rollins and Punk will have their opportunity to keep this feud going. Gunther can hopefully be moved over to Friday Night SmackDown and start some fresh feuds, likely heading toward Cody Rhodes, John Cena, and so on. I think this is a good thing and a good ending to the first night of SummerSlam.
Tell us what you think about this title change by leaving a comment below! Who do you think will be the next in line to challenge for the title, or possibly even win the belt next? Keep the discussion going!