35-year-old WWE Superstar makes bold statement about breaking current record and facing Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40

 WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther believes he could still be champion next year at WrestleMania 40 and be in the main event against Roman Reigns

The Tribal Chief narrowly escaped defeat at the hands of Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39, retaining his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and keeping his undefeated-by-pinfall-or-submission record.

Elsewhere on the SmackDown roster, Gunther has been on an undefeated streak of his own since making his debut in April last year.

When asked about the possibility of facing Roman Reigns next year as the Intercontinental Champion, a la Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 6, Gunther showed confidence. He claimed he would be focused on retaining the title until next year.

The Ring General stated the following on the latest episode of WWE's The Bump:

"Coming back to protecting and restoring [the IC title], if I want to do that on the biggest scale possible, and have the biggest impact possible with that, my goal needs to be to be in the most prominent spot of WrestleMania. That's why I said it. I'm not gonna change anything. I'm gonna stay focused, and I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing. I'm fairly confident in my skill. So, we will see how it plays out over the next year. But I stand with that claim, or that prediction." [From 1:00:44 to 1:01:26]

Hall of Famer impressed with the current WWE Intercontinental Champion's in-ring style

During Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Wrestling Time Machine podcast hosted by Mac Davis, Bill Apter named Roman Reigns and Bryan Danielson as two of the best wrestlers in the business today.

He then moved on to another personal favorite of his, and that is none other than Gunther. The veteran stated that everything The Ring General does looks like a "shoot."

"And the third one, I have been making a lot of noise for the man formerly known as Walter. The Austrian star known as Gunther. My goodness. Here's a guy who can wrestle technically; he can destroy. Everything he does looks like a shoot," added Bill Apter.

While The American Nightmare's goal of winning the WWE Championship is still a story that fans can get behind, perhaps Intercontinental Champion Gunther facing Undisputed World Champion Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 may be the next big main event.