The 2022 WWE Smackdown season premiere had a physical main event bout in-store in the form of an Intercontinental Title Match. After feuding for weeks in the recent past, Sheamus and GUNTHER met once again over the mid-card title, last night to deliver a slobberknocker.
It was a rematch of their highly praised matchup from last month’s Clash at the Castle premium live event. Sheamus ultimately came up short, yet again just short once again but the win of his bitter rival came amid big controversies which might set up the third match between the two, down the road.
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As seen on WWE Smackdown, Sheamus had the match won after holding GUNTHER in a Cloverleaf to which the champion tapped out. It was an apparent trying to get out of the hold due to which GUNTHER seemed to have to the mat on two occasions. Many fans in attendance leaped in joy as they thought that a new champion was crowned.
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However, the match continued on WWE Smackdown as the referee never noticed the same. The end came after GUNTHER hit Sheamus with a shillelagh that he received from Imperium stablemate Ludwig Kaiser when the referee wasn’t watching. GUNTHER got the pin-fall win amid the chaos outside the ring where Brawling Brutes and Imperium members were striking at each other.
After WWE Smackdown went off the air, Sheamus took to Twitter to say “Guntapper” followed by the hashtag “screwjob” referring to the infamous Montreal Screwjob event from the 1997 Survivor Series event in Montreal, Canada.
The ongoing feud on WWE Smackdown between Imperium and the Brawling Brutes isn’t over yet, as the two teams will collide in a Donnybrook match on October 8 at the Extreme Rules premium live event. WWE has described the stipulation as “an absolute free-for-all brawl with numerous weapons at every turn that guarantees a display of all-out mayhem.”
As noted above, Sheamus and GUNTHER received big ovations from the crown after fighting it out at Clash at the Castle. In particular, Sheamus received a standing ovation from fans for his efforts to eventually turn into a babyface. Imperium (GUNTHER, Kaiser, and Giovanni Vinci) and the Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland, and Butch) then also met in a six-man tag team match on the September 9 episode of WWE SmackDown.
