GUNTHER Explains “Disgust” Over Money In The Bank Briefcase Concept, High-Profile Matches Against Part-Timers Goldberg & Pat McAfee
GUNTHER recently appeared as a guest on The Masked Man Show for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling and WWE.
During the discussion, “The Ring General” spoke about his disgust for the WWE Money In The Bank briefcase cash-in concept, having high-profile matches against non-full-time talents like Pat McAfee and Bill Goldberg, as well as how the Goldberg bout came out of the blue.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
On his disgust for the WWE Money In The Bank briefcase cash-in concept: “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. 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. 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.”
On being the villain in high-profile matches against non-full-time talent like Goldberg and Pat McAfee: “Yeah, I thrive in that (being the villain). I think it’s a great scenario because that’s the other way now. We just talked about how I saw Goldberg when I grew up. One, I’m not a fan anymore. I’m a professional and it’s my duty to… I have to think about what’s best to do to the entertainment of everyone, and it’s gonna be my job to, yeah, take that special moment away from everyone and I feel like that struggle leading there is gonna be interesting. I think it’s an interesting situation all-around because the big question is obviously to a degree… Goldberg is 58 at that point. Does he still got it? How’s that match gonna look like? What kind of performance are we gonna see from him? … With this being his last match, being for the World Heavyweight Championship, I think it’s all the ingredients for a very special scenario that is a little bit out of the norm that we usually see, and I love being involved in those situations. Similar — obviously, very different — but similar to the Pat McAfee stuff. I enjoyed doing that because it was just a different setup, a different scenario. I can have a good match with a good opponent. That’s what I get paid to do. Nothing less is expected. But there’s like, different scenarios and that’s what makes it really interesting for me. So I’m looking forward to that.”
On the Goldberg bout coming out of the blue: “I feel like it’s a little bit out of the blue, because that’s nothing I would have expected, and that was also obviously — I don’t know — how I got up in wrestling or I got brought up, I feel like Goldberg is the complete opposite of how I would have imagined a wrestler that I really look up to. But, also, I’m able to understand that business is done differently as well. There’s different styles and just over here, the showmanship, the looks of a person are maybe sometimes more important than how technically finesse we are in the ring. I don’t wanna touch the style and it’s very successful. So in that aspect, being in WWE in the position that I am now, being able to — and that’s the thing with Goldberg is… like I said before, you can say whatever you want about him but, he’s one of the most outstanding guys in the history of this business and seeing a lot of the guys that he had before, it’s a great opportunity for me to step into the position now to be his last opponent because with all due respect, that’s what it is. I gain from that, being in the ring with Bill Goldberg because when he shows up, there’s a lot of interest in that and yeah, happy I got that opportunity.”
GUNTHER vs. Goldberg is scheduled to headline WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on July 12 in Atlanta, GA.
(H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.)
