GUNTHER has built his reputation in WWE as the disciplined and dominant “Ring General,” but the former World Heavyweight Champion revealed that his character could have looked very different.
During an appearance on What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes, GUNTHER explained that he deliberately pushed back against the classic wrestling trope of portraying him as a villain simply because of his nationality.
“No, I’m not a ‘Foreign Menace,’” GUNTHER said. “I always get a little bit annoyed, because when they go like, ‘Oh, he’s just a bad foreigner,’ I try to avoid everything that has to do with a flag or something.”
GUNTHER, who is originally from Austria, said WWE initially tried to incorporate national imagery into his presentation early in his run.
“They put it on my trunks when I started out,” he said. “They really wanted to have the flag on my gear. I got rid of it as soon as I could.”
According to GUNTHER, leaning heavily on nationality as a defining character trait feels outdated in modern professional wrestling. While it was once a common storytelling device, he believes the industry has evolved past those stereotypes.
“Sometimes it still sticks, that whole foreigner thing,” he explained. “But it’s very stereotypical, and I think it was a little more accurate in the 80s.”
GUNTHER also noted that the United States has become far more culturally diverse over time, making the old “USA versus foreign villain” narrative feel less authentic to modern audiences.
“America is so diverse now,” he said, adding that there have been places in the country where he rarely encountered people who were originally from the United States.
Instead of relying on nationality-based storytelling, GUNTHER has carved out a persona centered on discipline, dominance, and in-ring credibility, a formula that helped elevate him to one of WWE’s most respected champions in recent years.
Do you think wrestling should completely move away from the classic “foreign villain” trope, or can that style of storytelling still work if it’s done the right way?
