WWE: Gunther's WrestleMania 39 opponent to be determined on next week's SmackDown

Today on Friday night SmackDown, the final contender for the Intercontinental title match against Gunther at WrestleMania 39 was to be determined. However, a controversial finish to the fatal-5 way between Sheamus, LA Knight, Xavier Woods, Drew McIntyre and Karrion Kross led to another match for next week’s SmackDown that will eventually decide who goes on to face The Ring General at Mania.

SmackDown started with this as the match saw a lot of back and forth from each wrestler. The exciting fatal-5 way had the fans on their feet as there were some close countdowns and pinfalls. However, the match ended with McIntyre and Sheamus pinning LA Knight and Woods, respectively. The finish confused everyone as who will now be on the Road to WrestleMania. While the referees present inside the ring had declared both as winners, Adam Pearce burston to the scene with a solution.

Present backstage while watching the match with Gunther – who told him after the controversial ending that there should be just one contender and not two, Adam informed both Sheamus and McIntyre that on next week’s SmackDown, both will take onother and winner of that match will go to WrestleMania and challenge Gunther for the Intercontinental champion.

Meanwhile, Gunther is clearly the most-talked-about Intercontinental champion in history. Having fared against and beaten some of the biggest names on the roster in Rey Mysterio, Braun Strowman and even Ricochet for the title, Gunther is on a different level at this stage.

The former NXT champion, Gunther made headlines earlier for his superb performance at the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble – where he remained inside the ring for over close to 70 minutes breaking Mysterio’s previous record. Cody Rhodes, the eventual winner of the Rumble was the one who sent him over the top rope.

However, as per some reports surfacing, both Sheamus and Drew McIntyre were penned to face Gunther at the Showcase of Immortals. Now with this match sealed for next week, it would be exciting to see makes it through to the grander stage.