In the world of professional wrestling, winning a major championship is often seen as the culmination of a long, arduous journey. For GUNTHER, the idea of cashing in a briefcase on a downed opponent to achieve that goal is something he finds distasteful.
During a recent appearance on The Masked Man Show, the formidable competitor expressed his disgust for the Money in the Bank concept, viewing it as a less-than-honorable path to glory.
“So, first of all, I wanna express my disgust for the Money in the Bank briefcase, whatever you call it — stipulation or — I remember back then when some of those big cash-in moments happened and some of those guys won a big title for the first time in their career and it’s because they run out with a briefcase and there’s an already beaten opponent who’s just, yeah… lay on top of him for three seconds,” GUNTHER stated.
His comments carry particular weight following the Money in the Bank premium live event on June 7, where Seth Rollins captured the men’s briefcase. Rollins, who now holds a contract for a championship match at any time, embodies the very opportunism GUNTHER critiques. Rollins previously had a historic and successful cash-in at WrestleMania 31, turning a singles match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns into a Triple Threat and pinning Reigns to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
More recently, Rollins attempted to cash in during the John Cena vs. CM Punk match at Night of Champions, but the effort was stopped when the referee was inadvertently knocked down.
“I don’t know. I never found that very gratifying. So that’s never something I was interested in participating (in). As of right now, I don’t know,” GUNTHER continued. He also commented on Rollins specifically, suggesting a more honorable path could be taken. “Maybe there’s a little bit of honor left in Seth Rollins to not use it like that. But yeah, I’m not too worried about it to be honest… It’s a shortcut. When you win something big, you wanna earn it. I don’t know. Never found (it) gratifying.”
While GUNTHER questions the validity of a briefcase cash-in, he is preparing for a distinctly traditional challenge. He will face Goldberg in the WWE Hall of Famer’s retirement match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in Atlanta, Georgia on July 12.
The Money in the Bank event also saw Naomi win the women’s ladder match for the first time in her career, outlasting Alexa Bliss, Roxanne Perez, Giulia, Stephanie Vaquer, and Rhea Ripley. In the night’s main event, the team of Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso defeated John Cena and Logan Paul, thanks to an assist from a surprising appearance by R-Truth.
In other championship action, Becky Lynch became the new WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion by defeating Lyra Valkyria, while Dominik Mysterio successfully defended his WWE Intercontinental Championship against AAA’s Octagón Jr.