GUNTHER is making a campaign for 2023 Wrestler of the Year

Gunther’s 2023 in WWE is showing everyone why he is the wrestler of the year.

If you told wrestling fans a couple of years ago that Walter would have his name changed to Gunther and succeed in WWE, I think those fans will look at you as you’re crazy. And rightfully so because a guy like Gunther doesn’t usually succeed in WWE. Ever since Triple H took over creative, Gunther has been one of the benefactors of this change.

He felt like a key player on the roster by having multiple great matches with Sheamus last year, including their match at Clash of the Castle in what many fans say was the Daily DDT match of 2022. Then Gunther raise the bar even higher this year so much that he is having a career year so far. And he could be the wrestler of 2023 when the year is over.

Ever since Triple H has been in charge, Gunther has been protected and looked strong. And it continued this year. He has been on TV regularly and defending his IC title. He usually has great matches when he defends the title. He also will do six-man tag team matches with the rest of Imperium.

He also is undefeated ever since getting called up to the main roster. Gunther’s main roster run has been great so far because of his dominant IC title run and the matches he’s been putting out since winning that championship.

Yes, Gunther became the Intercontinental champion when Vince McMahon was in charge but it felt like he wasn’t going to hold that title for a long time until Triple H took over. In fact, there was a report saying that McMahon doesn’t see anything in Gunther, and because of that, it was implied that he could get buried.

The only two wrestlers I could see with a chance to be the Wrestler of the Year are Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson. Omega has great matches with Will Ospreay and El Hijo del Vikingo. And Danielson had great matches with MJF, Bandido, and Konosuke Takeshita.

But what puts Gunther on the slight edge as the wrestler of the year over Danielson and Omega is that his match at WrestleMania 39 was arguably the match of the year. It also helps that his style of wrestling is different than both Danielson and Omega.

Gunther’s way of wrestling is more of a powerhouse and strong style. His stuff looks brutal especially when he chops someone. And his style of wrestling meshes well with any other style of wrestling which is why he is consistently in the match of the year contender in the past few years.

Why is 2023 a career year for Gunther?

We’re only halfway to the year and Gunther has already made his campaign as the wrestler of the year. At the beginning of the year, he along with Cody Rhodes were the final two men in this year’s Mens Royal Rumble match.

Gunther was also the iron man in the Royal Rumble match. He entered the match first and he was in the Rumble for 73 minutes. He broke Rey Mysterio’s record of 62 minutes and because of that, Gunther now holds the record of being in the Royal Rumble match the longest.

At WrestleMania 39, Gunther had a match-of-year contender when he defended the Intercontinental title against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre. He just surpassed the one-year mark for holding the Intercontinental Championship. He’s also 88 days away from beating the Honky Tonk Man’s 454-day IC title reign and then he’ll be the longest-reigning IC Champion in WWE history.

Just six months into 2023, Gunther is putting together a campaign that many didn’t expect when he first made his move to the main roster. If he keeps up this trend, he will be on the shortlist of the best performers across all wrestling this year.