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Gunther (wrestler)

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Gunther
Gunther in 2024
Birth nameWalter Hahn
Born (1987-08-20) 20 August 1987 (age 37)
Vienna, Austria
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2022)​
Children1
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Big Daddy Walter
Big Van Walter
Herr Shark[1]
Gha-cha-ping
Walter
Gunther
Billed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[2]
Billed weight250 lb (110 kg)[2]
Billed fromVienna, Austria[1]
Trained byMichael Kovac[1]
Riki Choshu
Tatsuhito Takaiwa[1]
Tomohiro Ishii[1]
Debut19 November 2005[1]

Walter Hahn (born 20 August 1987) is an Austrian professional wrestler. Hahn has been signed to WWE since January 2019. He performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Gunther, and is the reigning World Heavyweight Champion in his first reign. He is one-half of Imperium, the incumbent King of the Ring, and a former one-time and longest-reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion. Best known by his "Ring General" (German: Der Ringgeneral) gimmick, he is characterized by his stiff wrestling style (inspired by the likes of Stan Hansen and Kenta Kobashi[3]), and his wrestling philosophies which are signified by the "Die Matte ist Heilig" (English: "The Mat is Sacred") motto.[4] As a wrestler, Hahn has been consistently praised and regarded as one of the best wrestlers in the world and of all time by industry journalists[5][6][7] and fellow wrestlers[8][9][10] alike.

Hahn is best known for his tenure in Germany with Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) as well as various German independent promotions, competing as Big Van Walter, Big Daddy Walter and mononymously as Walter (also stylized in all caps). Early in his career, he competed in Japan for Big Japan Pro-Wrestling (BJW) and Pro Wrestling ZERO1 under the Big Van Walter gimmick, as well as the short-lived Gha-cha-ping. In wXw, he was a three-time Unified World Wrestling Champion and a four-time wXw World Tag Team Champion. He became one of the promotion's most respected figures throughout his tenure, leading him to become the head trainer of the wXw Wrestling Academy upon its opening in 2015 until 2020. Walter also became a popular figure on the independent circuit in the United Kingdom, the United States and Ireland respectively; among the independent promotions he competed in were Progress Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), and Over the Top Wrestling (OTT), where he held their respective world championships between 2018 and 2019.

In November 2018, Hahn was reported to have signed with WWE. He was assigned to the NXT UK brand, a sister brand of the American-based developmental brand NXT, and subsequently won the NXT United Kingdom Championship, holding the title in a 870-day reign, which was the longest for the now-defunct title, and is the eighth overall longest singles title reign for any WWE championship. In January 2022, Hahn moved over to the primary NXT brand in America, where his ring name was changed to Gunther, before being promoted to the main roster on SmackDown in April that year. He won the WWE Intercontinental Title, holding it for 666 days and losing it at WrestleMania 40, setting the title's record for both the longest singular reign and the most cumulative days as champion, whilst also being recorded as the tenth longest singles championship reign of any WWE title. After moving to the Raw brand in 2023, he went on to win the King of the Ring tournament and won the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam in August 2024.

Early life

[edit]

Walter Hahn was born in Vienna, Austria on 20 August 1987. He started getting interested in professional wrestling at a young age, after a friend of his taped numerous WWE pay-per-views from 1992 to 1996 in his home on the RTL and Pro7 channels and kept tapes of shows from promotions such as All Japan Pro Wrestling, and he let Hahn borrow them for him to see, after which Hahn would start collecting tapes of professional wrestling matches. He was a spectator for a number of catch wrestling shows in Vienna at an early age as well, seeing wrestlers such as Fit Finlay, William Regal and Robbie Brookside at said shows.[3] At the same time, he began to have an interest in football, eventually playing as a goalkeeper;[3] however, approximately at the age of 15, he quit playing football.[11]

After quitting football, Hahn went back to watching professional wrestling during the Attitude Era, and became inspired enough to start training in Vienna under Michael Kovac, a wrestler originally from Linz, at the Wrestling School Austria facility later on. According to Hahn, Kovac made him, as well as the other students, try out and practice amateur wrestling to benefit their overall professional wrestling abilities. Kovac would also charge €35 for private lessons.[11]

Professional wrestling career

[edit]

Beginning of career (2005-2014)

[edit]

At the very beginning of his career until 2014, Hahn went by the stage name Big Van Walter. The name was a direct reference to Big Van Vader, but it was not a homage. According to Hahn, commentator Mark Landauer gave him the name, and Landauer went on to tell promoters that Hahn's stage name would be Big Van Walter, which annoyed Hahn.[11] Hahn had his first recorded wrestling match on 19 November 2005 in Bern, Switzerland, competing in a tag team match alongside SigMasta Rappo (who, at the time, was under the ring-name Sigi The SwissTank); they lost to the High Class Catch Club (Baron von Hagen and Adam Polak).[12] At the time of this match, Walter was 18 years old. He had his first singles match on 25 March 2006 in Bad Vöslau, defeating Sigi The SwissTank.[13] In the early months of his career, he had his first matches with future rivals and wXw colleagues John Klinger and Absolute Andy, as well as competing in matches with the likes of Colt Cabana, Pac and "Bambikiller" Chris Raaber.

Japan (2006–2012, 2019)

[edit]

According to Hahn, he wanted to initially hone his skills and train further in the United States; however, Chris Raaber wanted him to train in Japan due to the similarities within one of Raaber's trainers, Dory Funk Jr., and current puroresu trainers. Raaber reached out to Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX, the founded promotion of Shinya Hashimoto and Shinjiro Otani, and asked if Hahn could train with ZERO1-MAX and its heavyweight trainers, which consisted of Riki Choshu and his protege Tomohiro Ishii, and Tatsuhito Takaiwa. Hahn began training at the ZERO1-MAX dojo, which had also been a training facility used by members of the HUSTLE and Pride Fighting Championship rosters, in December 2006.[11] Hahn was assigned the gimmick of Gha-cha-ping, the off-shoot wrestling gimmick of Hirake! Ponkikki [jp] character Gachapin.[14] For the gimmick, Hahn had his hair dyed green and wore a mask to the ring, complete with a light green singlet with yellow and pink lines in the center, contrasting to Gachapin. He made his debut as Gha-cha-ping on 17 January 2007, teaming with Raaber (as Bambikiller) to defeat Otani and Rikiya Fudo.[15] For two days afterwards, Hahn defeated Fudo in singles matches and then Fuyujirou Jidosha [jp]. His first loss as the gimmick came on 10 February, losing to Kohei Sato in Hiroshima; he lost to him again in Nagano on 19 February as well. His last match on the tour took place on 7 April, defeating Jidosha, as Jiro Kuruma, at the Yasukuni Shrine Sumo Wrestling Place in Tokyo.

Hahn as Big Van Walter at a BJW show in May 2012, delivering a backhand chop to Yoshihito Sasaki

Hahn returned to Japan in 2008, ditching the Gha-cha-ping gimmick and going as Big Van Walter, for two shows for the Makehen promotion. First, on 19 March, he teamed with Lance Archer, who went by his real name Lance Hoyt, losing to Masato Shibata (the future Mad Paulie) and Tomohiko Hashimoto. On 28 March, he teamed with Daisuke Sekimoto to defeat Shibata and Hashimoto.

In the midst of his run in wXw, in 2011, he took part in numerous shows with their main Japanese partner at the time, Big Japan Pro Wrestling. At Korakuen Hall, on 28 April, he defeated then-rookie Ryuichi Kawakami. Four days later, on 2 May, he defeated Daisuke Sekimoto to win the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship, his second reign overall. In Yokohama, on 5 May, he teamed with Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) owner D. J. Hyde to defeat Abdullah Kobayashi and Shadow WX. He returned to Japan in April 2012, teaming with Sekimoto to defeat Yoshihito Sasaki and BJW Strong ace Yuji Okabayashi. On 5 May 2012, Walter was defeated by Sasaki in a match to crown the inaugural BJW World Strong Heavyweight champion in Yokohama, a defeat considered vengeful for Sasaki as Walter had defeated him in a Unified World Wrestling Championship defense a year prior.[16][17] Two months later, in July 2007, he took part in an inter-promotional tour with BJW, wXw and CZW wrestlers on a "World Triangle Night" showcase tour. The first match of the tour for Walter, on 27 July, involved him and fellow wXw wrestlers Robert Dreissker and "Bad Bones" John Klinger losing to Okabayashi, Sekimoto and Sasaki. Walter and Dreissker, who would later be known as the AUTsiders in Europe, defeated Sasaki and Shinya Ishikawa a day later. On 29 July, he and Klinger defeated Okabayashi and Sekimoto, and then defeated Okabayashi in a singles match hours later. On 30 July, he and Dreissker failed to win the wXw World Tag Team Championships, losing to the Sumerian Death Squad (Tommy End and Michael Dante).

In late 2019, it was announced that Walter would compete at BJW's Ryogokutan 2019 show, at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan, where he would team with Sekimoto to face Okabayashi and Yuji Hino. Sekimoto and Walter won the match, and it was acclaimed positively.[18]

Westside Xtreme Wrestling (2007–2021)

[edit]

2007–2008

[edit]

Immediately following his tour in ZERO1-MAX, Walter made his Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) debut on 4 May 2007 as Big Van Walter.[19] In March 2010, Walter won the 16 Carat Gold tournament.[20] At 23 years old, he became the youngest winner of the tournament at the time. He won the Unified World Wrestling Championship defeating Zack Sabre Jr. via disqualification. Within this time, Walter began to form an alliance with the Sumerian Death Squad (Tommy End and Michael Dante) as "The Mind".[21][22] Walter lost the Unified World Wrestling Championship to Daisuke Sekimoto on 15 January 2011, but regained it on 2 May, during a Big Japan Pro Wrestling card in Tokyo's Shin-Kiba 1st Ring.[23] He lost the title on 19 May 2012, against El Generico.[24]

At 16 Carat Gold 2012, Walter started a partnership with fellow Austrian wrestler Robert Dreissker, being dubbed "The AUTsiders" later on. Walter and Dreissker defeated Jay Skillet and Jonathan Gresham to win the wXw World Tag Team Championship at day three of 16 Carat Gold on 3 March 2013, a day after Walter failed to win his third Unified World Wrestling Championship against Axel Tischer.[25] Their first defense of the titles came at the Hasta La Victoria Siempre Tour Finale, where they would defeat the Sumerian Death Squad and the Leaders Of The New School (Zack Sabre Jr. and Marty Scurll).[26] During the reign they would successfully defend against the teams of Masashi Takeda and Drake Younger,[27] Skillet and Ricky Marvin,[28] D. J. Hyde and Karsten Beck (two allies of the tag team), and Maxi Schneider and Michael Schenkenberg. They would later lose the titles at 258 days in Hamburg during the 13th Anniversary tour to Hot & Spicy (Axel Dieter Jr. and Da Mack).[29]

In October 2013, Walter competed at a ceremonial World Triangle League tournament with CZW and BJW wrestlers. He was one of three wXw qualifying wrestlers (alongside Dreiskker and John Klinger). Walter lost his block by losing to eventual overall winner Daisuke Sekimoto on the third day of the tournament after defeating Drake Younger and Kim Ray on the first and second days respectively.

2014: Big Daddy Walter

[edit]

In 2014, he changed his ringname to Big Daddy Walter, winning the his third Unified World Wrestling Championship on July after defeated Tommy End.[30]

He lost the title against Karsten Beck during a match where Vince Russo appeared as the special referee.[31]

2016–2018: Ringkampf, tag team with Timothy Thatcher

[edit]
Walter as his "Ring General" gimmick at the 16 Carat Gold Tournament Sunday show on 8 March 2020

In 2015, Walter, alongside Axel Dieter Jr., Axel Tischer and Christian Michael Jakobi, the then-head booker and managing director of wXw, released an apparel brand entitled Ringkampf (German: ring fight).[32] Its apparel became worn by all three members (except Jakobi) throughout 2015 and 2016. In 2016, however, Ringkampf evolved into a full-on stable. For months, Walter appeared to have an alliance with American wrestler Timothy Thatcher, who shared a similar style to Walter. After Dieter, Walter and Thatcher began appearing aligned with each other in August of that year in the lead up to the World Tag Team League that'd happen between 31 October and 2 November, the three, along with Jakobi, created the Ringkampf stable and began sharing its motto, "Die Matte Ist Hellig" (German: "The Mat is Sacred"). The philosophy of Ringkampf was that they would only care about the scarcity of professional wrestling and the stable's superiority over all. Walter began to incorporate the nickname "The Ring General" within this time period. Thatcher and Walter were allied together to compete at the World Tag Team League; they defeated Moustache Mountain and Los Güeros del Cielo on the first and third days of the weekend, and lost to JML (David Starr and Shane Strickland) on the second day, failing to reach the finals.[33] Nevertheless, the team of Walter and Dieter were granted a wXw World Tag Team Championship match at the 16th Anniversary show on 10 December, against the incumbent champions, A4 (Absolute Andy and Marius Al-Ani), in a two-out-of-three falls match, which they lost two falls to one.[34]

At a show in London on 28 January 2017, Walter lost a top contendership match to Jurn Simmons. Afterwards, Ringkampf started a series of matches with A4, who had been rivalrous to Ringkampf since the latter's World Tag Team League run. Between 11 and 24 February, Ringkampf and A4, who also competed alongside Simmons and Günter Schmid, had their overall match series tied 2-2, notably after Ringkampf's Dieter and Walter beat A4 at Dead End XVI.[35] At a show in Düsseldorf on 4 March, Walter lost to Matt Riddle.[36] Walter later competed at the 2017 16 Carat Gold tournament, along with the coinciding AMBITION 8 between 10 and 12 March. After beating David Starr and Marius Al-Ani by referee's decision within two days, Walter vengefully defeated Matt Riddle before losing to Ilja Dragunov in the finals of the tournament.[36] At the AMBITION 8 tournament, he lost in the first round to Jeff Cobb.[37]

Within 31 March and 6 June 2017, Walter failed to gain the Unified World Wrestling Championship thrice by losing to the incumbent champion, Jurn Simmons. First, on 31 March, he lost to him by pinfall in a singles match in Ludwigshafen, then lost in a four-way match that also involved Axel Dieter Jr. and Mike Bailey on 8 April in Dresden,[38] and finally during another singles match in Erfurt. It was announced in April 2017 that Axel Dieter Jr. would leave wXw to sign with WWE.[39] He failed to win the Shortcut To The Top battle royale on 1 July. At Inner Circle 4 on 5 October 2017, amidst the World Tag Team League weekend, he defeated Thatcher in an "AMBITION rules" match.[40] At the same time, they were partnered up in the league itself. They advanced in their block, defeated The Briscoe Brothers and EYFBO in the process, whilst losing to Homicide and Low Ki, They defeated David Starr and Jurn Simmons in the finals of the tournament, and, in the process, also won the wXw World Tag Team Championships, his third overall reign.

Walter hitting Timothy Thatcher with a big boot during a match on 8 March 2020

On 15 October 2017, in Leipzig, Walter failed to win the Unified World Wrestling Championship again, this time in a no contest in a four-way match against incumbent champion John Klinger (who had become the biggest heel in the company with his faction RISE), Ilja Dragunov and Jurn Simmons. Thatcher and Walter's first defense as World Tag Team Champions came on 3 November, defeating Bobby Gunns and Jaxon Stone. The next day, on 4 November, they successfully defended against RISE members Da Mack and leader John Klinger. They defeated them again, successfully defending the titles, on 17 November, whilst defeating Stone and Gunns again the next day in a tornado-tag elimination match. They defeated Julian Nero and Dreissker on 8 December, with Dreissker now going by the name Avalanche. On 23 December, at wXw's 17 Anniversary, Walter and Thatcher defeated Tarkan Aslan and his brother Lucky Kid in another successful defense.[41]

At the 16 Carat Gold 2018 weekend, Walter was scheduled to compete in a wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship match at the Saturday show against John Klinger. However, Walter announced before the beginning of the match that the stipulation had changed to a three-way and, subsequently, Ilja Dragunov returned to the company to face both Klinger and Walter. Dragunov defeated both to win the championship, after striking Klinger with his Torpedo Moskau maneuver.[42][43] The next day, Thatcher and Walter lost their tag titles to Klinger and Da Mack.[44]

2018–2021: End of wXw run

[edit]

To have one thing absolutely clear, right from the start: the only reason all of you are sitting here, and the only reason wXw is able to have almost 900 people in attendance, is the hard work myself and Ilja put in! ... No need to applaud; you're part of the problem. When I took one hour of my well-deserved time off for a meet and greet, what did I read then? "WALTER? That's nothing special. He's always been around!". You (the wXw fans) are the most arrogant pile of scum I've ever encountered in my life!

We both realized one thing, and each and everyone of you has to understand this. When I was standing in New York, and had achieved this title, I realized I was destined for bigger things than the shit around here! ... From now on, we are no longer "your wXw guys"; we are superstars! And, from now on, our mission is to eradicate this problem around here: the two of you (Aussie Open), you are showmen; and, we are taking what we deserve. No matter if you like it or anyone else, you can kiss our asses!

—WALTER, wXw Superstars Of Wrestling 2019 (Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen, Germany).[45]

Between 24 March and 5 May, Walter failed to, yet again, win the Unified World Wrestling Championship. Dragunov would defeat Walter, alongside David Starr and Travis Banks, at a show in London on 24 March,[46] and then defeat Walter in 3 straight championship matches on 13 April 14 April and 5 May[47] in Limbach-Oberfrohna, Dresden and Oberhausen[47] respectively. He failed to win both the Shortcut To The Top battle royale and the World Tag Team Championships in August and September, and failed to win the World Tag Team League in October with Thatcher, despite their two wins in their four-team block. He failed to win the Shotgun Championship against Marius Al-Ani in Hof in October 2018. Walter did, in contrast to his shortcomings, win the AMBITION 11 tournament on 8 August 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[48]

During the 2019 16 Carat Gold tournament between 8 and 10 March 2019, Walter lost in the finals to Lucky Kid after he defeated David Starr, Fenix and Avalanche in the previous stages.[49] At Superstars of Wrestling on 1 June, after Walter defeated Wheeler Yuta earlier in the show, Walter and Ilja attacked Aussie Open and "Hardcore" Bob Holly after their match on the show. During the assault, Walter and Ilja attacked the wXw fans and stated that the "hard work [they] put in ... is the only reason wXw is able to have people in attendance". At the Shortcup To The Top 2019 event on 3 August, he and Ilja Dragunov defeated Aussie Open to win the World Tag Team Championships, with Walter now being a four-time tag champion.[50] On 3 August, Walter failed to win the Shortcut To The Top battle royale again, this time losing to Timothy Thatcher. On 9 August in Toronto, Walter defeated Daisuke Sekimoto. On 13 September, Walter and Dragunov lost their titles to Aussie Open; they lost in their rematch clause the next day.[51]

Due to him now being signed with WWE and performing on the NXT UK brand, his schedule became slim for independent bookings. Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and its spread in Germany, Walter competed on two wXw shows on 8 March during the 16 Carat Gold weekend, first defeating Shigehiro Irie on a live stream and, later, at the 16 Carat show itself, Thatcher and Walter collaborated with Daisuke Ikeda and Yuki Ishikawa, with Walter and Ikeda losing to Thatcher and Ishikawa in a tag team match.[52] Walter had his final wXw match to date on 18 December 2021, defeating Cara Noir at their 21st Anniversary show.[53]

British and Irish independent circuits (2011–2012, 2015–2020)

[edit]

Walter worked for several independent promotion on the British and Irish independent circuit, like Revolution Pro Wrestling[54] or Progress Wrestling. Walter participated on the Progress Wrestling's tournament Super Strong Style 16 Tournament in 2015 and 2016, but was unatble to win the tournament.[55][56] He become Progress Atlas champion twice, defeating both times Matt Riddle.[57][58] After vacating the Atlas Title, he defeated Travis Banks to win the PROGRESS World Title at Chapter 74: Mid Week Matters. He also defeated Trent Seven, the then-Atlas Division Champion, to a title unification match.[59]

He also worked for Over The Top Wrestling in Ireland, winning the OTT World Championship after defeating Jordan Devlin.[60]

North American independent circuit (2010–2019)

[edit]
Walter making his entrance at EVOLVE 107 before his match against Adam Cole, 24 June 2018

Walter made his debut in North America on 13 March 2010 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at two events: Combat Zone Wrestling's "Walking On Pins And Needles" event, where he and Karsten Beck lost to the Crimson City Saga (Tommy End and Zack Sabre Jr.).

Walter also worked for World Wrestling Network affiliate EVOLVE,[61] wrestling for the WWN Championship twice.[62][63]

Walter at the 2017 Battle of Los Angeles event in September 2017

Walter also worked for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), making his debut during the 2017 Battle of Los Angeles tournament, where he was eliminated by eventual finalist Keith Lee in the opening round.[64] Walter won the PWG World Championship from Keith Lee,[65] and lost it against Jeff Cobb.[66]

WWE

[edit]

NXT (2019–2022)

[edit]
Main article: Imperium

It was reported in November 2018 that Walter had signed an unspecified deal with WWE, and was assigned to the NXT UK brand.[67] Two months later, on 12 January 2019 at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool, Walter made his surprise debut by confronting WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne,[68] defeating him for the title three months later at NXT TakeOver: New York.[69]

During his reigns, he joined Fabian Aichner, Dieter Jr. (who had now gone by his real name Marcel Barthel) and Alecander Wolf as Imperium.[70] and reuniting Ringkampf under the new name .[71] On 31 August at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff, Walter retained his title against Tyler Bate. Imperium also faced the NXT faction The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, and Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) at the NXT UK and NXT co-branded event, Worlds Collide. During his reign, the WWE United Kingdom Championship was renamed to NXT United Kingdom Championship.[72] On 19 February 2021, Walter became the longest-reigning NXT United Kingdom Champion, breaking Pete Dunne's record of 685 days.[73] On 17 March episode of NXT, Walter would return to the NXT brand and attacked Tommaso Ciampa. On 5 April, his championship reign surpassed the two-year mark. Two days later at Stand & Deliver, Walter retained his title against Ciampa.[74] At NXT TakeOver 36, Walter dropped the title to Dragunov, ending his reign at 870 days. His 870 day reign as NXT UK Champion would be the longest championship reign in WWE history since 1988 until Roman Reigns surpassed this number with the WWE Universal Championship in January 2023.[75]

After losing the title, Walter was transferred to the NXT brand and his ringname was changed to Gunther.[76][77] Controversially, his new name was supposed to be Gunther Stark, however the name was dropped due to its name being linked to a Nazi navy member of the same name.[78] In mid-March, Gunther started a brief feud with LA Knight, facing him at NXT Stand & Deliver, where Gunther won.[79] On 5 April episode of NXT, he faced NXT Champion Bron Breakker in a losing effort, which turned out to be his final appearance for the brand.[80]

Longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion (2022–2024)

[edit]
Imperium (from left to right: Giovanni Vinci, Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser) at the Clash at the Castle event in September 2022

Gunther and Barthel (the latter now repackaged as Ludwig Kaiser) made their main roster debut on 8 April episode of SmackDown and two months later, he defeated Ricochet to win the Intercontinental Championship, making him the first Austrian to win the title.[81] He would successfully defend the title against Ricochet in a rematch[82] and Shinsuke Nakamura.[83] Prior to Gunther's title defense at Clash at the Castle on 3 September against Sheamus, Ludwig Kaiser announced the reformation of Imperium by reintroducing Fabian Aichner, now known as Giovanni Vinci. Gunther subsequently defeated Sheamus to retain the title.[84][85] Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter rated the match five stars, marking Gunther's fifth overall match, his fourth match in WWE, as well as his first match as part of the main roster to receive such a rating.[86] He would beat Sheamus in a rematch on 7 October episode of SmackDown.[87] Gunther spent the remainder of 2022 and the early months of 2023 retaining the Intercontinental Championship against Rey Mysterio, Ricochet, Braun Strowman, and Madcap Moss in respective singles matches on various Smackdown episodes.[88][89][90]

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the Ringgeneral has rewritten history. I am now officially the longest reigning and greatest Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion in history! ... First, I want to share some words about all of the legends who have held this great title before. You contributed absolutely nothing! I elevated this championship to heights never seen before. And as far as I understand, I'm running a little bit out of competition here; from now on, it seems like I am only competing against myself.

—Gunther, during a celebratory segment on the 11 September 2023 edition of Monday Night Raw for becoming the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion in WWE history (Norfolk, Virginia, USA)

At the Royal Rumble on 28 January, Gunther was the first entrant and the last person eliminated from the titular match; he was eliminated by the match's winner Cody Rhodes, who entered as the thirtieth and final participant. His 71-minute and 25 second performance was the longest in the history of the annually-held event.[91] On Night 2 of WrestleMania 39 on 2 April, Gunther retained the title against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre.[92]

Gunther making his entrance at a "Road to WrestleMania" show in Springfield, Illinois on 23 March 2024

As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Gunther, along with his Imperium stablemates Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci, was drafted to the Raw brand.[93][94] In the coming months, Gunther successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship against Mustafa Ali at Night of Champions on 27 May, Matt Riddle at Money In The Bank on 1 July, and Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam on 5 August.[95] On 21 August episode of Raw, Gunther defended the title against Chad Gable but lost the match by countout, ending his undefeated singles streak on the main roster;[96] however, as championships do not change hands by countout or disqualification unless otherwise stipulated, Gunther remained champion.[97] After defeating Gable in a rematch on 4 September episode of Raw, Gunther guaranteed that he would become the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion later that week, which he did, breaking The Honky Tonk Man's record of 454 days, which he celebrated on 11 September.[98][99] On 25 November at Survivor Series: WarGames, Gunther successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz by submission.[100]

On 20 February, Gunther's Intercontinental Championship reign set another record for the title, this time for most cumulative days as champion, surpassing Pedro Morales, who held the title for 619 days across two reigns. Morales had held this record for 41 years.[101] At Night 1 of WrestleMania XL, Gunther was defeated by Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship, ending his reign at 666 days, the longest and making it his first pinfall loss as part of WWE's main roster.[102]

King of the Ring and World Heavyweight Champion (2024–present)

[edit]

After WrestleMania XL, Gunther participated into the King of the Ring tournament,[103] he won the tournament after defeating Randy Orton at the King and Queen of the Ring event, earning a World Heavyweight Championship match at that year's SummerSlam event.[104] At the event on 3 August, Gunther defeated Priest to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career.[105]

His first feud for the title would be against Randy Orton. On 5 August episode of Raw, Orton challenged Gunther to a rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship after he claimed that he never lost the final match of the 2024 King of the Ring, and it was confirmed for Bash in Berlin on 31 August, with an added stipulation that if Orton wins the title, he would trade brands with Gunther going to SmackDown and Orton going to Raw. Gunther would successfully retain his title against Orton at the event by technical submission to stay on the Raw brand. After the match, Gunther would shake hands with Orton as a sign of respect.[106]

Afterwards, Gunther would begin a storyline with Sami Zayn who would begin to pursue his World Heavyweight Championship. However, Gunther would reject Zayn's request of a title match on two different occasions until the 30 September episode of Raw, when he finally granted Zayn a title match for the following week on Raw after Zayn brought up the aftermath of their Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania XL.[107] On the 7 October episode of Raw, Gunther defeated Zayn via technical submission to retain the title. At Crown Jewel on 2 November, Gunther lost to Cody Rhodes in a match to determine the inaugural WWE Crown Jewel Champion, but shook hands with Rhodes as a sign of respect following the match.[108] At Survivor Series WarGames on 30 November, Gunther defeated Priest in a rematch to retain the title after interference from Bálor.[109]

Other media

[edit]

Video games

[edit]
Gunther in video games
Year Title Notes Ref.
2022 WWE 2K22 Video game debut [110]
2023 WWE 2K23 [111]
2024 WWE 2K24 [112]

Personal life

[edit]

Hahn studied English as a child at school, but was poor at speaking it overall. He picked up learning the language again when he became a professional wrestler and interacted with British and American wrestlers in order to improve his speaking skills. By 2012 and since 2013, when wXw expanded its roster to include more wrestlers from English-speaking countries, Hahn began to speak fluent English.[113]

He owned a clothing brand alongside Marcel Barthel and Axel Tischer named Ringkampf Apparel from 2015 until 2020, which had numerous sponsored wrestlers including former Ringkampf stablemate Timothy Moura (who is best known as Timothy Thatcher), Raquel Lourenço (who is best known as Killer Kelly), former Imperium stablemate Fabian Aichner (now known as Giovanni Vinci), and Jeff Cobb.

Outside of the ring, Hahn is good friends with his fellow Ringkampf (now Imperium) stablemates, as well as wXw referee Rainer Ringer. He was also close friends with Karsten Beck, Andy Ullmann and "Bad Bones" John Klinger before their passing. Hahn grew up supporting his hometown football club, SK Rapid Wien. He also follows the Bundesliga, and supports FC Schalke 04.[114]

Hahn met English professional wrestler Jinny Sandhu during their time on the independent circuit where they became good friends.[115] They married 2022 and had another ceremony with family and friends in April 2023 in London,[116] and on 27 December 2023, they had their first child, a boy.[117]

Championships and accomplishments

[edit]
Gunther held the WWE Intercontinental Championship for the longest reign at 666 days.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f "Gunther". Cagematch. Archived from the original on 21 June 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
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