GUNTHER made Sami Zayn the special referee for his WWE Championship rematch against Cody Rhodes on Wwe SmackDown, turning a title defense into a test of control as much as a fight. The match aired commercial free on June 19, 2026, from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
The choice mattered because Zayn is not some blank official dropped into the ring. He and Rhodes were in a blow-up last week that included face slaps and Zayn grabbing a steel chair, which makes him the kind of referee neither man can fully trust. On a show built around the road to Night of Champions on June 27, that is enough to change the feel of the whole night.
For Rhodes and GUNTHER, the rematch was already carrying the weight of the first meeting at Clash In Italy, where GUNTHER lost after a controversial finish that started when the referee did not see his foot under the ropes at the beginning of the three count. That finish left room for arguments about what should have happened and who should have won, and GUNTHER responded by putting another person in the middle of the problem.
It was not the cleanest solution available. GUNTHER could have pushed for a submissions match, instant replay for pin falls, or even a WWE career on the line stipulation, all of which would have attacked the issue more directly than handing the decision to a referee whose history with Rhodes is already messy. Instead, he chose Sami Zayn, a man whose presence adds uncertainty rather than removing it.
That is the point. Zayn is now the big wild card that neither Rhodes nor GUNTHER can control, and that makes the rematch less about who has the better championship case and more about whether the referee can keep the match from turning into chaos. On June 27, Night of Champions arrives, and what happens in Kansas City will shape how much doubt still hangs over both men when that date comes.
