Gunther Names WWE Superstar He Wants to Retire the Most

Gunther has fought anyone WWE has lined him up against, but there's someone Gunther hopes to challenge again some day before their time in WWE is over.

Gunther | WWE

Gunther never asked to be a career killer. It just happened that way.

Gunther disrespected Goldberg in his hometown in the lead-up to the Bad Blood PLE in Goldberg's hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. He trashed Goldberg's wrestling ability, mentioned Goldberg's son Gage, and said he hoped Goldberg was a better father than he was a wrestler. This was all the history they needed for Goldberg to choose Gunther as his retirement match.

Then, Gunther won the 16-man "Last Time Is Now" Tournament to determine John Cena's final opponent. And at Saturday Night's Main Event in Boston, Massachusetts, last December, he defeated Cena by making him tap out.

AJ Styles didn't appreciate Gunther's attitude after beating Cena, so he challenged Gunther but was defeated at the Royal Rumble in his own retirement match. And for the first time, there's someone Gunther wants to seek out himself in hopes of ending their professional wrestling career.

Drew McIntyre and Gunther wrestle Sheamus during Wrestlemania Night 2 at SoFi Stadium. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Gunther wants to retire Sheamus

This one is personal for the Ring General. The history between Sheamus and Gunther goes deep. That history might have a lot to do with why Gunther would love to retire Sheamus before Brock Lesnar, Rey Mysterio, and even CM Punk.

Gunther sat in with the Main Event Club podcast leading up to Clash in Italy this Sunday and answered who he would want to retire the most in a championship versus career match.

"One [where he would rank Sheamus]...the thing is like Brock is for publicity, perfect. But Sheamus? That's a personal matter that I will send him, if anyone retire him."

Gunther on the Main Event Club podcast

Sheamus faced a retirement scare in 2019 which sidelined him for nine months. He later dealt with a sever shoulder injury during his final match against Edge on SmackDown in 2023. He contemplated retirement, but felt rejuvenated in 2025, even announcing his “Never F******g Retiring Tour” during John Cena’s farewell run.

Sheamus and Gunther's deep history

Sheamus has no plans to retire soon, but Gunther seems ready to make it happen.

The rivals first faced each other at Clash at the Castle in 2022 for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. A brutal fixture between the two saw Gunther retain and continue his record-breaking reign. More matches between all three members of the Brawling Brutes and Imperium dominated WWE's midcard for the next few months until WrestleMania 39.

Gunther retained his Intercontinental Championship in one of the greatest Intercontinental Championship matches ever against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre. Gunther delivered a thunderous powerbomb to Sheamus onto the back of McIntyre to secure the win. Sheamus has gotten the best Gunther in team action, while Gunther has ruled the rivalry in singles action.

Sheamus is currently recovering from shoulder surgery in December, which was done to fix an issue with the same shoulder he had surgery on in the past. Gunther is still in the prime of his wrestling career at 38-years-old. The "Career Killer" has plenty of time to collect the debt on any personal beef he has left with Sheamus.