Gunther turned the start of SmackDown into a wrecking scene in Bologna, Italy, on June 5, 2026, knocking over and destroying the announce tables before demanding another shot at Cody Rhodes. The confrontation put the champion back in the middle of a title dispute that began at Clash in Italy and had barely cooled by the time the show opened.
Rhodes came out to answer him after greeting fans, shaking hands and signing autographs as he walked into the segment. That alone made clear this was not going to be a quiet reset. Gunther said he had been screwed out of the title because his foot was under the rope during the pin, and Rhodes agreed the foot was under the rope. But Rhodes said Gunther was complaining about it instead of acting like a professional, then said he was willing to give him a rematch right then and there.
WWE was back on air in Italy less than a week after Clash in Italy, which gave the exchange extra edge. The company was also in the middle of its King and Queen of the Ring tournaments, with the quarterfinal round built around four Fatal 4-Way matches and the winner of each crown earning a guaranteed world title shot. That meant every challenge on the show carried more than one layer of consequence.
The argument did not stay between Rhodes and Gunther for long. Sami Zayn stepped in and said Gunther and Rhodes had both done him wrong, and the dispute quickly spilled into the ring. Gunther trapped Rhodes in a sleeper hold, Zayn chose to save Rhodes, and Rhodes then hit Zayn with a suicide dive when Gunther pulled him into the path. In one sequence, the show turned from a rematch demand into a three-way grievance, with nobody leaving Bologna having settled much of anything.
What Rhodes offered was simple, but the show stopped short of confirming whether Gunther would get that rematch on the spot or later. What came through instead was the shape of the road ahead: Gunther still wants the title back, Rhodes still has a champion’s answer for him, and Zayn has made it plain he is not standing outside the frame anymore.
