WWE superstar Sheamus has deleted a controversial post about his upcoming opponent Gunther.
The two behemoths are set to meet on Monday Night Raw in a first round match in the King of the Ring tournament, repeating their classic encounter for the Intercontinental championship at Clash of the Castle in 2022.
The two got into it on social media to build up their match, with Sheamus bringing up the recent removal of Giovanni Vinci from the Imperium faction Gunther fronts.
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He wrote: “I made you. I will break you. Your weak empire is falling apart.. @VinciWWE call me.”
But it was the second post on his official page which caused a real stir as he appeared to compare Austrian Gunther to Nazi leader and dictator Adolf Hitler in referencing his haircut and "military style" coat.
The post on X read: "Hmmm…an Austrian with a funny haircut, has a thing for military style coats, proclaims superiority over others, hangs out with Germans and betrays his Italian ally.”
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In response, Gunther simply replied: "What the f***?" and the post ended up being deleted shortly after.
Foreigners in wrestling have regularly been portrayed as heels and bad guys but Sheamus may have just overstepped the mark.
Gunther was initially called 'Walter' when he debuted in WWE and his name change occurred in January 2022.
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A trademark was filed with the USPTO (United States Patent & Trademark Office) for the name 'Gunther Stark' but the second bit was ultimately dropped as it has ties to a Nazi U-boat commander of the same name.
Gunther has just come off a dominant, record-breaking Intercontinental title reign which lasted 666 days before he was dethroned by Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 40.
"I think I got the ball handed and I had the freedom to do it my way and it worked out," he told SPORTbible, reflecting on his achievements.
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“I think it was a little bit of an experiment because how I am, I'm not the typical WWE superstar in that sense – I’m more of a throwback.
“People love good professional wrestling and that’s what I'm doing."
Topics: WWE
Josh Lawless