Gunther On the ‘Evil Foreigner’ Trope in Wrestling, Possible Match With Cody Rhodes

Gunther had a memorable mini-match with Cody Rhodes to close out the 2023 men’s Royal Rumble match, and he recently discussed how a feud between them might go. The Intercontinental Champion appeared on the Rob Brown Show and talked about how, as a foreign star promoted as a monster heel, he is a natural fit to face The American Nightmare — though he doesn’t think that’s the evil foreigner heel is something that should be a catch-all. You can see a couple highlights below, per Wrestling Inc:

On a possible match with Rhodes and playing a heel: “Times have changed. I totally get the concept of like, the bad foreigner comes in and wants to get the title. If I ever get to wrestle Cody Rhodes again, I think the roles there are clear. I am that bad guy from somewhere else and I want to beat the very popular American guy up and I think that’s totally fine. But like you said, just because somebody is from somewhere doesn’t mean they should be portrayed a certain way.”

On his Royal Rumble performance: “I could really feel that it might be a career-changing night.”