WWE Seemingly Taking Gunther Character In Different Direction
Marcus Reynolds During Friday's episode of SmackDown, something interesting took place between the Gunther character and his mouthpiece Ludwig Kaiser. When Kaiser failed to defeat Shinsuke Nakamura in a singles match, Gunther took aim at his sidekick and forced him to accept three brutal chops as punishment for his failures. It was an interesting pivot from the characters as they've been presented to fans thus far and it suggests WWE might be trying something different to get Gunther over even more as a heel.
It's another layer WWE is adding to this character, one that suggests he's a ruler by fear and that he doesn't accept failure as an option. A dictator by nature, the plan seems to be that Kaiser will be punished if he doesn't live up to expectations and former WWE manager Dutch Mantel said, "It was evident that it was punishment for losing. If they'll keep that in mind and not wear it out, they've got something with him."
The question now is, where is this going? Is this a way to get Kaiser over? Much like The Million Dollar Man used to abuse Virgil, eventually Virgil went out on his own. Or, is this about Gunther and making him an even bigger, badder heel than he already is? Again, like The Million Dollar Man, it was years of abuse that Virgil took before finally having had enough. Perhaps the idea here is that Kaiser is loyal, but in the background, there's an underlying theme that he's being abused, something WWE can always circle back to.
Related: SmackDown Winners And Losers: Evans Turns, Gunther Punishes, Reigns Isn't Afraid
Where Does WWE Go With Gunther?
WWE might have to tread carefully because abusing Kaiser each week will only lead to a quick split between the two men and they've only recently been pushed up to the SmackDown brand, with the duo being quite successful since their debut. Hopefully, the plug isn't pulled too quickly on this.
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