Report: Gunther Was Set To Be Buried And Sent Back To NXT By Vince McMahon

Current WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther is in the midst of a major push, having registered big victories over the likes of Sheamus, Shinsuke Nakamura and Rey Mysterio in recent times, while main-eventing SmackDown on several occasions.

Had Vince McMahon not retired this summer and remained WWE's head of creative, things could have been very different, at least according to a new report.

Speaking with GiveMeSport, Twitter account WrestleVotes noted that the former WWE Chairman had soured on Der Ring General and planned on possibly sending him back to NXT.

According to the report, McMahon was unhappy with Gunther following his segment with R-Truth on the July 4 episode of Raw. Further, Vince was supposedly 'over' Gunther and wanted to 'bury' him en route to NXT.

Conversely, Paul 'Triple H' Levesque sees Gunther as someone who can headline shows for a long time going forward.

Per WrestleVotes:

"Gunther is going to be around for a long time. He's got real potential as a heel, and he's going be here for 10/12 years. He's going to open some shows, he's going to close some shows, but he's just going to be a solid match every night. That's what Hunters sees in him right now.

"Hunter likes him and he's going to give him a shot. People are starting to understand what he is and the Clash at the Castle deal with Sheamus helped."

Gunther's next challenger for the Intercontinental Title is currently being determined via the ongoing World Cup tournament on SmackDown.