WWE announced during Friday night’s episode of WWE SmackDown, that GUNTHER will defend the Intercontinental Title against Braun Strowman on the January 13 episode of SmackDown.
On the December 23 episode of WWE SmackDown, the Imperium attacked Strowman, who laid out Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser. During this week’s episode, GUNTHER punished Strowman for making a challenge for the Intercontinental Championship.