History Wrestling / Walter

* FinishingMove: A sleeper hold called "Gojira Clutch", a lariat, and a pumphandle powerbomb called "Golden Bomb". When both of these reliable old soldiers failed to put away Pete Dunne at ''NXT [=TakeOver=]: New York'', WALTER improvised a new finishing sequence on the spot: a top rope jackknife powerbomb transitioned into the most ''terrifying'' frog splash ever witnessed by man. However, as many commenters have noted, the thing about WALTER that makes him so terrifying is that due to his stiff wrestling style ''every move he makes'' is a potential finisher, especially those chops of his.
** In the first week of December 2022, he added an [[Wrestling/MitsuharuMisawa Emerald Flowsion]] to his arsenal, which he calls the "Last Symphony", by defeating Wrestling/KofiKingston with it after the latter was able to kick out of his Powerbomb. Time will tell if the Last Symphony will be his primary finisher moving forward.

* MeaningfulName: "Walter" comes from an old Germanic name meaning "ruler of the army", fitting his Ring General gimmick much more than it sounds like.

** In ''NXT UK'', since Ringkampf is nowhere to be seen (and when it did appear, it had its SerialNumbersFiledOff) and WWE usually sweeps away any indie reference from its wrestlers, it's instead a greatcoat resembling the one worn by Napoleon Bonaparte.

* LikeCannotCutLike: He can dish chops like candies, but other wrestler's chops barely move him '''at best'''.

* BookEnds: His run with the Defiant Internet Championship starts with him defeating two departing wrestlers (Travis Banks -to WWE- and Zack Sabre Jr. -due to schedule conflicts with New Japan-) and ends with him being the departing one (to WWE), losing it at the hands of Martin Kirby.

Walter Hahn (born 20 August 1987) is an Austrian former [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball footballer/soccer player]] turned {{professional wrestl|ing}}er and wrestling trainer trained by Michael Kovac, Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Wrestling/TomohiroIshii. He's known for his [[StageNames ring name]] WALTER, and for being an all-rounder powerhouse with the most devastating chops known to man. He's currently signed to Wrestling/{{WWE}} and performs in the ''[[Wrestling/WWESmackDown SmackDown]]'' brand. He debuted for WWE in early 2019, appearing at the end of ''NXT UK [=TakeOver=]: Blackpool'' after the main event where [[Wrestling/BritishStrongStyle Pete Dunne]] retained the WWE UK Title and made his in-ring debut on [[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT UK]] two weeks later.

* DirtyCoward: Averted. Champion or not, WALTER/Gunther does not hide behind his Imperium lackeys to win.

* DirtyCoward: Averted. Champion or not, WALTER/Gunther does not hide behind his Imperium lackeys to win.

Walter Hahn (born 20 August 1987) is an Austrian former [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball footballer/soccer player]] turned {{professional wrestl|ing}}er and wrestling trainer trained by Michael Kovac, Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Wrestling/TomohiroIshii. He's known for his [[StageNames ring name]] WALTER, and for being an all-rounder powerhouse with the most devastating chops known to man. He's currently signed to Wrestling/{{WWE}} and performs in the ''[[Wrestling/{{WWESmackDown}} SmackDown]]'' brand. He debuted for WWE in early 2019, appearing at the end of ''NXT UK [=TakeOver=]: Blackpool'' after the main event where [[Wrestling/BritishStrongStyle Pete Dunne]] retained the WWE UK Title and made his in-ring debut on [[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT UK]] two weeks later.

* MeaningfulRename: When WWE started renaming ''NXT'' guys away from their indie names in January 2022, WALTER became GUNTHER and announced in a video that it was time to let go of the past, create his own name, and lead Imperium into the future. He then proceeded to get into [[LeanAndMean monster shape]], got called up to ''Wrestling/SmackDown'' three months later, and started tearing up fools on the way to the Intercontinental title. While "Gunther" itself is primarily known as the name of the semi-legendary 5th-century Burgundian king from the ''Nibelungenlied'' saga, the original trademark, "Gunther Stark", roughly translates to "strong warrior", and is also the name of a World War 2 Nazi German submarine commander. The idea was obviously to carry over the powerful militaristic roots of WALTER and make it more imperial in tone, to reflect that the General isn't holding back anymore.

** Imperium, with Fabian Aichner/Giovanni Vinci, Marcel Barthel/Ludwig Kaiser, and [[Wrestling/SAnitY Alexander Wolfe]].[[note]]The group would become a PowerTrio with Wolfe getting kicked out of the group.[[/note]]

** Imperium, with Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel, and [[Wrestling/SAnitY Alexander Wolfe]].

** In [=SmackDown=], it's Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}. After becoming, no.1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship, Sheamus would fight for the title as the final accolade missing to complete his Hall of Fame career, but at the same time Gunther reigned as champion with intent to catapult his career in America by restoring the title's prestige. Sheamus' Brawling Brutes and Gunther's reconstituted Imperium would often fight around the two titans, but whenever Sheamus and Gunther actually did come to blows things became violent in a hurry. With Gunther barely able to punish Sheamus enough to keep the IC title on numerous occasions and Imperium costing the Brutes a shot at the Tag Team Championship, it is clear this is more than a two-month skirmish.

Walter Hahn (born 20 August 1987) is an Austrian former [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball footballer/soccer player]] turned {{professional wrestl|ing}}er and wrestling trainer trained by Michael Kovac, Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Wrestling/TomohiroIshii. He's known for his [[StageNames ring name]] WALTER, and for being an all-rounder powerhouse with [[ArmorPiercingSlap the most devastating chops known to man]]. He's currently signed to Wrestling/{{WWE}} and performs in the ''[[Wrestling/{{WWESmackDown}} SmackDown]]'' brand. He debuted for WWE in early 2019, appearing at the end of ''NXT UK [=TakeOver=]: Blackpool'' after the main event where [[Wrestling/BritishStrongStyle Pete Dunne]] retained the WWE UK Title and made his in-ring debut on [[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT UK]] two weeks later.

* ArmorPiercingSlap: WALTER's chops have been known to turn his opponents almost ''literally'' inside-out.

* BoringButPractical: The deceptive simplicity of WALTER's moveset features classic era standards such as suplexes, dropkicks, powerbombs, and - of course - those [[ArmorPiercingSlap ungodly chops]]. He's absolutely no less terrifying for it, for two simple reasons: the moves work, and it's [[TheDreaded WALTER]] using them.

** In [=SmackDown=], it's Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} after Sheamus become no.1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship. Although Gunther defeated Sheamus at Clash at the Castle the feud still continue after Sheamus stable The Brawling Brutes won the Fatal 4 Way Tag Team Match to face Wrestling/TheUsos for the Tag Team Championship also Sheamus got a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship.

* {{Acrofatic}}: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] - WALTER's not as much 'fat' as 'bulky' - but still too obviously large and hulking for his occasional front dropkicks and top rope splashes to be anything less than terrifying.

** In [=SmackDown=], it's Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} after Sheamus become no.1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship. Although Gunther defeated Sheamus at Clash at the Castle the feud still continue after Sheamus got a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship.

Walter Hahn (born 20 August 1987) is an Austrian former [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball footballer/soccer player]] turned {{professional wrestl|ing}}er and wrestling trainer trained by Michael Kovac, Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Wrestling/TomohiroIshii. He's known for his [[StageNames ring name]] WALTER, and for being an all-rounder powerhouse with [[ArmorPiercingSlap the most devastating chops known to man]]. He's currently signed to Wrestling/{{WWE}} and performs in the ''[[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT UK]]'' brand, appearing at the end of ''NXT UK [=TakeOver=]: Blackpool'' after the main event where [[Wrestling/BritishStrongStyle Pete Dunne]] retained the WWE UK Title and made his in-ring debut on NXT UK two weeks later.

* MeaningfulRename: When WWE started renaming ''NXT'' guys away from their indie names in January 2022, WALTER became GUNTHER and announced in a video that it was time to let go of the past, create his own name, and lead Imperium into the future. He then proceeded to get into [[LeanAndMean monster shape]], got called up to ''Wrestling/SmackDown'' three months later, and started tearing up fools on the way to the Intercontinental title. While "Gunther" itself is primarily known as the name of the semi-legendary 5th-century Burgundian king from the ''Nibelungenlied'' saga, the original trademark, "Gunther Stark", roughly translates to "strong warrior", and is also the name of a World War 2 Nazi German submarine commander. The idea was obviously to carry over the powerful imperialistic roots of WALTER and make it more imperial in tone, to reflect that the General isn't holding back anymore.

* MeaningfulRename: Might be what WWE were going for when they renamed him from WALTER to "Gunther Stark" in January 2022. This is also the name of a World War 2 Nazi German submarine commander.

Among his accolades, he's 1x NXT UK Champion, 1x [[Wrestling/DefiantWrestling Defiant Internet Champion]], 1x EWP Tag Team Champion (with Michael Kovac), 1x GSW Tag Team Champion (with Robert Dreissker), 1x OTT Champion, 2x [[Wrestling/PROGRESSWrestling PROGRESS Atlas Champion]], 1x PROGRESS World Champion, 1x PWF North-European Champion, 1x [[Wrestling/ProWrestlingGuerilla PWG World Champion]], 3x wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion, 3x wXw World Tag Team Champion (1x with Robert Dreissker, 1x Zack Sabre Jr., and 1x Timothy Thatcher), and win Fight Club: PRO's Infinity Trophy, wXw's World Tag Team Tournament (with Zack Sabre Jr.), World Tag Team League (with Timothy Thatcher) and 2010's 16 Carat Gold Tournament, and was ranked at #77 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2018.

** His new ring name in 2022 would have been "Gunther Stark", after the German WWII pilot, before WWE dropped the last name due to controversy surrounding the name.

** His new ring name in 2022 [[WhatCouldHaveBeen would have been]] "Gunther Stark", after the German WWII pilot, before WWE dropped the last name due to controversy surrounding the name.