As of the day of writing, September 7th 2023, Gunther has now held the WWE Intercontinental Championship for 454 days. The Austrian originally captured the belt from Ricochet on the June 10th 2022 edition of SmackDown and has gone on to have one of the most dominant title reigns in modern WWE history.
Now, Gunther can add yet another accolade to his already impressive reign. In reaching 454 days as Intercontinental Champion, Gunther has now tied with The Honky Tonk Man’s reign with the belt and now co-holds the record for the longest Intercontinental Championship reign in history with the WWE Hall of Famer. Honky Tonk Man held the title from June 1987 to August 1988, eventually losing it in just 31 seconds to The Ultimate Warrior at the first-ever SummerSlam.
With no title defenses on the horizon for the 36-year-old, however, the record will not remain unchanged for long. Gunther is set to overtake Honky Tonk Man’s reign as of midnight tonight when he will become the single longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion ever at 455 days and beyond, breaking a record that has stood for over three and a half decades.
This is not the first time Gunther has held the record for the longest-reigning holder of a WWE title. During his time in the now-defunct NXT UK brand, the man then known as WALTER held the NXT United Kingdom Championship for an astonishing 870 days from April 2019 till August 2021. This reign was also the longest championship reign in modern WWE history until Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship reign surpassed it in September 2022.
Most recently, Gunther successfully defended the belt over Chad Gable on this week’s RAW to secure the record-breaking achievement. Throughout the year, he has retained the title across four separate Premium Live Events including SummerSlam, Money In The Bank, Night Of Champions and the second night of WrestleMania 39. His challengers have included top names like Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Matt Riddle and Mustafa Ali.