The upcoming WWE Bad Blood Premium Live Event looks to be one of the company's most loaded shows of the year, but not every feud going on right now was able to make the cut. The most notable absentee from the October 5 event is the World Heavyweight Championship clash between champion GUNTHER and challenger Sami Zayn. Neither of WWE's men's main roster titles will be at stake at Bad Blood, and WWE seems content with their non-big four Premium Live Events maxing out at five matches.
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This is what Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter was told, as he recently reported that WWE felt Bad Blood didn't need the GUNTHER/Zayn match as much as "WWE Raw" on October 7 did. Meltzer agreed with this idea, as Bad Blood has been close to selling out for a number of weeks, and that placing a World Heavyweight Championship match on the first two-hour edition of "Raw" in 12 years will give the show a big boost in ratings and ticket sales.
Since dethroning Damian Priest at SummerSlam on August 3, GUNTHER has only defended his title once on television, that being in the main event of the Bash in Berlin Premium Live Event on August 31 against Randy Orton. However, he has defended the title at live events and in dark matches against the likes of Jey Uso, Sheamus, and Ilja Dragunov, the latter of whom sustained a serious knee injury during their latest bout. When it comes to televised matches, Zayn was the last person to beat "The Ring General," as he ended GUNTHER's 666-day reign as Intercontinental Champion at WrestleMania 40 in April, a title Zayn has since lost due to being defeated by Bron Breakker at SummerSlam.
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