The way WWE’s creative team has been treating Gunther, in recent months, has been drawing attention even in AEW, although from a face very well known to the Stamford company.
Ilja Dragunov, currently in AEW, after making a much-anticipated debut at last Saturday’s WrestleDream, commented on the current status of the Ring General, in a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show.
At least in the view of the former WWE United States Champion, the fact that Gunther retired John Cena should be enough for him to be at a more interesting moment in his career.
“I guess my feelings the same feeling as a lot of other people share. If you are the person to retire John Cena, it’s kind of like a standard that you should keep a certain level of that, in my opinion.
For me, he is one of the best. He will be one of the best of all time. He is a dear friend of mine for, I don’t know, maybe since 2014, 15. I know he’s good. I know he will always do good and whatever he does is gonna be awesome. But I can of course image that after the standard that he set and the standard of how he got portrayed that this is not necessarily the level that we are working at right now.”
Gunther has a match scheduled against Danhausen for Friday Night SmackDown on Oct. 30. Despite the approach of Crown Jewel, WWE’s next premium live event, the Austrian does not seem to have big plans drawn up, at least for the near future.
Dragunov, on the other hand, already has the date of his in-ring debut in AEW scheduled for tomorrow, on Dynamite, against a still unknown opponent.