The current WWE Intercontinental Champion and The Ring General of the Imperium faction, Gunther, is one of the best fighters in professional wrestling today. WWE is making sure to push Gunther as an unbeatable superstar, and he fits that role perfectly and has held on to the Intercontinental Championship for over 323 days.
Gunther has been in the professional wrestling business for over 16 years and competed extensively on the independent circuit before coming to WWE in 2019. With that being said, let’s take a look at Gunther’s career and look at nine things that fans they might not know about Gunther. time in the independent circuit.
8 He started his career in wXw
Gunther began training to become a professional wrestler and made his in-ring debut in 2005 on the Austrian independent circuit. He but he moved to Germany to further his career and joined the Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) promotion in 2007.
It was there that Gunther performed for the majority of his in-ring career as he continued his association with the promotion through 2020 before taking a full-time schedule with WWE and reaching the position he is in today.
7 He received different names throughout his time in the Indies.
Like many wrestlers, Gunther also went by different names while competing on the global independent circuit. He first went by the name Big Van Walter during his early days on the Austrian circuit and later went by many names such as Big Daddy Walter, Walter, Pater Walter, Man Mountain Walter, and Gha-cha-ping during his time racing on the Indian
He used the name Walter when he made his WWE debut and worked under the same name during his time with NXT UK, where he enjoyed his long NXT UK Championship reign and slowly established himself among WWE’s worldwide audience. .
6 Your work in Japan
Japan is one of the most popular destinations for professional wrestling due to the level of opportunities that could be received by competing for promotions like New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Gunther also tried his hand at the Land of the Rising Sun and competed for the Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Zero1 in 2007. Gunther trained with the likes of Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Tomohiro Ishii during that time and honed his skills.
He competed in a joint event organized by New Japan Pro Wrestling and Revolution Pro Wrestling that took place in London in 2018, but never got the chance to make his proper debut for NJPW.
5 Tag Teams and Stables
Gunther has been leading the Imperium faction alongside Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci since their time together in NXT. Likewise, The Ring General has been a part of various teams and factions throughout his time on the independent circuit.
Catch Hoolz in wXw was the first faction Gunther was a part of in his career, and Sami Callihan was also a part of the group. He later became part of the Mind faction in the same promotion, which had wrestlers like Malakai Black in the mix.
He was also part of the Ringkampf faction, which also included his current Imperium partner Ludwig Kaiser. He later became a member of the Schadenfreude stable, which consisted of the likes of Timothy Thatcher and Jonathan Gresham.
4 He was also the main trainer in wXw
His long association with the Westside Xtreme Wrestling promotion saw Gunther take on the role of Head Trainer later in his career. He helped train more than ten candidates during his time with the promotion, many of whom still compete on the independent circuit.
He spent a considerable amount of time in wXw even after becoming part of NXT UK, as WWE continued to compete with him and his colleagues on the independent circuit while still under contract.
His association with wXw came to an end after Gunther moved to the US to join WWE’s main roster, where he currently dominates his competition as the reigning Intercontinental Champion.
3 I used to work in a meat factory
Many wrestlers used to work side jobs to earn extra income to support themselves and their families while continuing to perform and train on the independent circuit.
Gunther was no different as he, too, held various jobs during the early stages of his career. He worked in a meat factory earning €5 an hour and also worked in a food logistics company, where he was a manager and had his own office. He left that job while climbing the ladder in the professional wrestling industry, and the rest, they say, is history.
2 their recognitions
Gunther is currently enjoying a dominating streak as the reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion and is nearing the one year mark with the title. He’s mounted hit after hit against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre during the reign, and thinking about it, he’s simply replicating the success he enjoyed while competing on the indies.
Throughout his time on the indies, Gunther has won the PWG World Championship, World Progression Championship, and wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship and also had lengthy runs with other tag and mid-card titles.
1 I didn’t want to join WWE at first
A superstar of his caliber might have made it to major promotions like WWE very early in his career, but Gunther claimed that competing for WWE was not on his bucket list as he was not interested in moving to the US. . . While many wrestlers who shared the ring with him during that period tried their luck and moved to the US, Gunther stayed on the European independent circuit.
Fortunately for him, Triple H’s efforts to expand into the UK market led to WWE creating the NXT UK brand, where Gunther had a successful run, eventually changing his mind and making him a full-time roster member. WWE main.