Gunther Beats The Miz, Retains WWE Intercontinental Title at Survivor Series 2023

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Gunther defeated The Miz at WWE Survivor Series: WarGames on Saturday night to retain the Intercontinental Championship.

The A-Lister showed up well in the contest, but eventually he was no match for the longtime titleholder, who locked in the Boston crab on his opponent to extend his record-breaking reign.

On a recent episode of Raw, The Miz invited Gunther to be a guest on Miz TV, but he initially refused to come to the ring, instead sending fellow Imperium members Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci to speak for him.

While Miz verbally assaulted Kaiser and Vinci, The Ring General showed up and expressed his belief that The A-Lister and Miz TV were beneath him.

The Miz acknowledged that Gunther was the longest-reigning IC champion of all time after he surpassed The Honky Tonk Man’s record, but he referred to himself as the greatest intercontinental champ in WWE history.

Miz made it clear that he wanted to test himself against Gunther and prove his status as the preeminent IC champ, but Raw general manager Adam Pearce insisted that he would have to earn the opportunity.

Bronson Reed, Ricochet and Ivar all stepped up in hopes of getting a title shot as well, so Pearce booked them and Miz in a Fatal 4-Way match for the No. 1 contendership.

The Miz and Ivar pinned their opponents at the same time, but while Ricochet kicked out of Ivar’s pin at the last moment, Miz was able to hold Reed, resulting in the victory.

With that, a unique matchup was officially set for Survivor Series, pitting the longest-reign IC champ of all time at 500-plus days against the Superstar with the second-most IC title reigns of all time with eight.

Additionally, Gunther and Miz couldn’t be more different as performers, as The Ring General is a hard-hitting and physical bruiser, while The A-Lister has long relied on underhanded tactics to get the job done.

At Survivor Series, Gunther prevented Miz from tying the all-time record for most Intercontinental Championship reigns and further cemented himself as the most dominant IC titleholder in WWE history.

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