Sami Zayn Ends GUNTHER's Historic WWE Intercontinental Title Reign At WrestleMania 40

Sami Zayn defeated GUNTHER tonight at WWE WrestleMania 40 to capture the WWE Intercontinental Championship. The match took place immediately prior to the show's main event and lasted just over 15 minutes, with Zayn's wife seated in the front row, watching the action and cheering her husband on.

With his loss, GUNTHER's Intercontinental Championship reign comes to an end at 667 days, surpassing the previous record by a significant amount. This is the fourth time Zayn has held the title. The WWE star previous captured the belt twice in 2020 and again in 2022.

Prior to the match, Zayn was shown backstage speaking first to Chad Gable, followed by his wife and son, and lastly with his longtime friend and former rival, Kevin Owens. As one would expect, GUNTHER spent much of the match in control, with Zayn serving as the underdog giving his all to stay in the fight. Just when it would look as though Zayn would start getting momentum, the Austrian would take charge and shut things down.

The longer the match continued, the more intense both men became, with Zayn taking the Intercontinental Champion further than any of his other recent opponents. Finally, a Helluva Kick led into a Brainbuster off the top rope before Zayn delivered two more Helluva Kicks, giving him everything he needed to end GUNTHER's record-breaking reign.

GUNTHER first captured the Intercontinental Championship on June 10, 2022 after defeating Ricochet on an episode of "WWE SmackDown." Since then, GUNTHER has feuded against and defeated Ricochet, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, The Miz, Gable, and more. Throughout that time, the Austrian has been backed up by his fellow Imperium members Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser.