Gunther

Apr 15, 2019 - by Jamie Cruickshank

Real name: Walter Hahn
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 297 lbs.
Date of birth: August 20, 1987
Born: Vienna, Austria
Pro debut: November 19, 2005
Trained by: Michael Kovac, Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Tomohiro Ishii
Finishing move: Burning Lariat

Biography

– Hahn began his career wrestling as ‘Big Van Walter’ across central Europe
– In 2007, Walter travelled to Japan to compete for Zero-One
– On April 3, 2009, Walter defeated Heimo Ukonselka to win the PWF Northern European Title
– On June 7, Walter defeated Dennis Broszinski to retain the PWF Northern European Title
– On September 26, Walter defeated Karsten Kretschmer to retain the PWF Northern European Title
– In November 2009, Walter defended the PWF Northern European Title against Chaos, Tank & Heimo Ukonselka
– On March 7, 2010, Walter won the wXw 16 Carat Gold Tournament, defeating Chris Hero in the final
– Later that month, Walter made his first US appearances, competing at a joint wXw/CZW event
– On July 3, Walter defeated wXw Unified World Champion Zack Sabre Jr by DQ
– Walter defeated Zack Sabre Jr. to win the wXw Unified World Title on October 2, 2010 in Oberhausen, Germany
– On November 7, Walter defeated 2Face to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On December 4, Walter defeated Ares to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On May 2, 2011, Walter defeated Daisuke Sekimoto at a Big Japan Wrestling event in Tokyo, to regain the wXw Unified World Title
– On May 15, at a wXw vs. NOAH event, Walter defeated Shuhei Taniguchi to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On June 4, Walter defeated Zack Sabre Jr to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On August 13, Walter defeated Axeman to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On September 25, Walter defeated Dave Mastiff & Trent Seven to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On October 1, Walter defeated Sami Callihan to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– Two days later, Walter defeated Yoshishito Sasaki to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On November 26, Walter defeated Marty Scurll to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On January 21, 2012, Walter defeated Jon Ryan to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On February 12, Walter defeated Shinya Ishikawa to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On March 3, Walter defeated Daisuke Sekimoto to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– Walter’s near two-year reign as wXw Unified World Champion was ended by El Generico in May 2012
– On October 5, Walter & Michael Kovac defeated Christian Eckstein & Leon van Gasteren to win the EWP Tag Team Titles
– On October 19, Walter fought FCF Finnish Heavyweight Champion King Kong Karhula to a double countout
– On March 3, 2013, The AUTsiders (Walter & Robert Dreissker) defeated RockSkillet (Jonathan Gresham & Jay Skillet) to win the wXw Tag Team Titles
– On April 27, The AUTsiders defeated The Leaders of the New School (Zack Sabre Jr & Marty Scurll) and The Sumerian Death Squad (Michael Dante & Tommy End) in an Elimination Match to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles
– On June 1, The AUTsiders defeated Drake Younger & Masashi Takeda to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles
– On August 17, The AUTsiders defeated Ricky Marvin & Jay Skillet to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles
– On October 6, The AUTsiders defeated Karsten Beck & DJ Hyde to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles
– On October 20, The AUTsiders defeated Maxi Schneider & Michael Schenkenberg to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles
– On July 27, 2014, Walter defeated Tommy End to win the wXw Unified World Title
– On September 6, Walter defeated GHW Heavyweight Champion Murat Bosporus by DQ
– On September 20, Walter defeated Sasa Keel to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On October 4, Walter defeated Tommy End in a Best of 3 Falls Match to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On October 24, Walter defeated Absolute Andy to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On November 22, Walter defeated Axel Dieter Jr to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On December 5, Walter defeated Chris Hero to retain the wXw Unified World Title
– On January 10, 2015, The AUTsiders (Walter & Robert Dreissker) defeated Absolute Andy & Michael Kovac in a No-DQ Match to win the GSW Tag Team Titles
– On February 28, The AUTsiders defeated wXw Tag Team Champions French Flavour (Lucas Di Leo & Peter Fischer) by DQ
– On March 28, Walter defeated wXw Unified World Champion Karsten Beck by DQ
– On October 4, Walter & Zack Sabre Jr defeated reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) to win the vacant wXw Tag Team Titles
– In late 2016, Walter tweaked his ringname, becoming known simply as WALTER
– On July 9, 2017, WALTER defeated Matt Riddle to win the PROGRESS Atlas Title
– On August 11, 2017, at an EVOLVE event, WALTER defeated Fred Yehi to retain the PROGRESS Atlas Title
– On September 10, WALTER defeated Matt Riddle & Timothy Thatcher to regain the PROGRESS Atlas Title which he had lost to Riddle less than a month before
– On October 8, Ringkampf (WALTER & Timothy Thatcher) defeated Massive Product (Jurn Simmons & David Starr) to win the wXw World Tag League and with it, the vacant wXw Tag Team Titles
– On October 29, WALTER defeated Wolfgang to retain the PROGRESS Atlas Title
– On November 3, Rimgkampf defeated Jaxon Stone & Bobby Gunns to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles
– The next day, Ringkampf defeated RISE (John Klinger & Da Mack) to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles
– On November 17, Ringkampf defeated RISE by DQ to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles
– The next day, Ringkampf defeated Jaxon Stone & Bobby Gunns in a No-DQ Tornado Elimination Tag Match to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles
– On November 24, Ringkampf defeated The Young Lions (Tarkan Aslan & Lucky Kid) to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles
– On December 8, Ringkampf defeated Monster Consulting (Julian Nero & Avalanche) to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles
– On December 23, Ringkampf defeated The Young Lions to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles
– On January 26, Ringkampf defeated RISE (John Klinger & Ivan Kiev) to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles. They retained against RISE again the following day, this time represented by Klinger & Da Mack
– On January 28, WALTER defeated Timothy Thatcher to retain the PROGRESS Atlas Title
– On February 9, Ringkampf defeated Jay FK (Jay Skillet & Francis Kaspin) to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles
– On March 25, WALTER defeated Rampage Brown to retain the PROGRESS Atlas Title
– On April 21, WALTER defeated Jonah Rock & Keith Lee to win the PWG World Title
– On May 6, WALTER defeated PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks by DQ
– On May 25, WALTER defeated Sammy Guevara to retain the PWG World Title
– On May 28, WALTER defeated Travis Banks & Zack Sabre Jr to win the Defiant Internet Title
– On July 13, WALTER defeated Brody King to retain the PWG World Title
– On July 15, WALTER defeated Matt Cross to retain the Defiant Internet Title
– On July 25, WALTER defeated Travis Banks to win the PROGRESS World Title
– On July 27, WALTER defeated Omari to win the FCP Infinity Trophy
– In August 2018, WALTER defended the PROGRESS World Title against Jimmy Havoc, Schaff, Eddie Dennis & Chris Brookes
– On August 18, WALTER defeated Jordan Devlin to win the OTT World Title
– On August 26, WALTER defeated Will Ospreay to retain the Defiant Internet Title
– On September 1, WALTER defeated Zack Gibson to retain the PROGRESS World Title
– On September 30, WALTER defeated Tyler Bate to retain the PROGRESS World Title
– On October 11, WALTER defeated Mark Davis to retain the Defiant Internet Title
– Two days later, WALTER defeated Will Ospreay to retain the OTT World Title
– On October 28, WALTER defeated Zack Sabre Jr to retain the PROGRESS World Title
– On November 11, WALTER defeated Mark Haskins to retain the PROGRESS World Title
– On December 3, WALTER defeated Chris Ridgeway & El Phantasmo to retain the Defiant Internet Title, but lost it later that day to Martin Kirby
– On December 9, WALTER defeated Shigehiro Irie to retain the PROGRESS World Title
– WALTER debuted for WWE’s NXT UK brand on January 12, 2019, confronting Pete Dunne
– On January 30, WALTER made his WWE in-ring debut, defeating Jack Starz
– On February 24, WALTER defeated Chris Ridgeway to retain the PROGRESS World Title
– At Takeover: New York, WALTER defeated Pete Dunne to win the WWE UK Title
– After the event, WALTER would form the Imperium stable alongside fellow Europeans Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel & Alexander Wolfe
– On April 19, WALTER defeated Pete Dunne to retain the WWE UK Title
– On May 5, WALTER defeated Trent Seven to unify the PROGRESS World Title and the PROGRESS Atlas Title
– On June 15, WALTER defeated Travis Banks to retain the WWE UK Title
– On July 6, WALTER defeated Eddie Kingston to retain the PROGRESS Unified World Title
– The next day, WALTER defeated Ilja Dragunov to retain the PROGRESS Unified World Title
– On August 3, WALTER & Ilja Dragunov defeated Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) to win the wXw Tag Team Titles
– On August 8, WALTER defeated Daniel Garcia, Mike Bailey & Timothy Thatcher to win the wXw AMBITION 11 Tournament
– Later that day, WALTER defeated Paul Robinson to retain the PROGRESS Unified World Title
– At Takeover Cardiff, WALTER defeated Tyler Bate to retain the WWE UK Title
– WALTER made a pair of appearances on Raw in November 2019
– WALTER was part of Team NXT at Survivor Series ’19
– At Takeover Blackpool II, WALTER defeated Joe Coffey to retain the WWE UK Title
– On January 18, 2020, WALTER defeated Dave Mastiff to retain the WWE UK Title
– At When Worlds Collide ’20, Imperium (WALTER, Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel & Alexander Wolfe) defeated The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish)
– On October 29, WALTER defeated Ilja Dragunov to retain the WWE UK Title
– On January 14, 2021, WALTER defeated A-Kid to retain the NXT UK Title
– At Takeover: Stand & Deliver 2021, WALTER defeated Tommaso Ciampa to retain the NXT UK Title
– On April 8, WALTER defeated Rampage Brown to retain the NXT UK Title
– In January 2022, WALTER began competing on the NXT US brand, reuniting with Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner)
– The next month, WALTER became Gunther
– At Stand & Deliver 2022, Gunther defeated LA Knight
– In April 2022, Gunther was called up to the Smackdown brand
– On the June 10, 2022 episode of Smackdown, Gunther defeated Ricochet to win the WWE Intercontinental Title
– On the June 24 episode, Gunther defeated Ricochet to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– On the August 12 episode, Gunther defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– At Clash At The Castle 2022, Gunther defeated Sheamus to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– On the October 7 episode of Smackdown, Gunther defeated Sheamus to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– On the October 28 episode, Gunther defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– On the December 16 episode, Gunther defeated Ricochet to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– On the January 13, 2023 episode, Gunther defeated Braun Strowman to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– On the February 17 episode, Gunther defeated Madcap Moss to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– At WrestleMania 39, Gunther defeated Drew McIntyre & Sheamus to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– At Night Of Champions 2023, Gunther defeated Mustafa Ali to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– At Money In The Bank 2023, Gunther defeated Matt Riddle to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– At Summerslam 2023, Gunther defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– On the August 21 Raw, Gunther retained the WWE Intercontinental Title over Chad Gable by countout
– On the September 4 Raw, Gunther defeated Gable to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– A victory over Shanky at the 2023 Superstar Spectacle confirmed Gunther as the longest-reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion of all time, surpassing the record set by The Honky Tonk Man in the late 1980s
– On the October 2 Raw, Gunther defeated Tommaso Ciampa to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– On the October 16 Raw, Gunther defeated Bronson Reed to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– At Survivor Series 2023, Gunther defeated The Miz to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– On the December 18 Raw, Gunther defeated The Miz to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– On the January 29, 2024 Raw, Gunther defeated Kofi Kingston to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– On the February 19 Raw, Gunther defeated Jey Uso to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– Gunther’s record-breaking WWE Intercontinental Title run came to an end at WrestleMania XL as he lost to Sami Zayn

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