Gunther (wrestler)

Gunther
Hahn in 2024
Birth name	Walter Hahn
Born	(1987-08-20) 20 August 1987 (age 36) Vienna, Austria
Spouse(s)	Jinny ​ (m. 2023)​
Children	1
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Big Daddy Walter[1] Big Van Walter[1] Gha-cha-ping[2] Gunther[1] King Gunther Man Mountain Walter[2] Pater Walter[2] WALTER[1] Walter Hahn[1]
Billed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[3]
Billed weight	250 lb (110 kg)[4]
Billed from	Vienna, Austria[1]
Trained by	Michael Kovac[1] Riki Choshu Tatsuhito Takaiwa[1] Tomohiro Ishii[1]
Debut	19 November 2005[1]

Walter Hahn (born 20 August 1987) is an Austrian professional wrestler. As of January 2019, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Gunther (also stylized in all caps). He is one-half of Imperium, the incumbent King of the Ring, and a former one-time and longest reigning Intercontinental Champion. Perhaps 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^[5]), and his wrestling philosophies which are signified by the "Die Matte ist Heilig" (English: "The Mat is Sacred") motto.^[6]

For most of his career, he wrestled predominantly in Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) as Big Van Walter, Big Daddy Walter, and mononymously as Walter (also stylized in all caps). In wXw, he became 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.^[7] Walter also became a popular figure on the independent scenes in Europe and the United States; among the promotions he wrestled in on the independent circuit were PROGRESS Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), and Over The Top Wrestling (OTT), where he held their world championships between 2018 and 2019.

At NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool on 12 January 2019, Hahn made his surprise WWE debut as Walter, debuting at the end of the event to confront then-NXT United Kingdom Champion (then WWE United Kingdom Champion) Pete Dunne. After being confirmed to have been signed to WWE, he was aligned with the NXT UK brand and, subsequently, won the NXT United Kingdom Championship at NXT TakeOver: New York. Walter's 870-day reign, which concluded at NXT TakeOver 36 against Ilja Dragunov, was the longest for the now-defunct title, and is the eighth overall longest singles championship reign for any competitor in WWE history.^[8]

In January 2022, Hahn moved over to the primary NXT brand, where his ring name was changed to Gunther, before being promoted to the main roster on SmackDown in April that year, where he won the Intercontinental Championship in June. His reign of 666 days set 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 for any wrestler in WWE history.^[8] The only champion that succeeded him in cumulative days during his reign was the second reign of Roman Reigns as Universal Champion (1,316 days). On 25 May 2024, he won the King of the Ring tournament and, thus, had his ring name altered to be King Gunther.

As a wrestler, Hahn has been consistently praised and regarded as one of the best wrestlers in the world by writers^{[9][10][11][12][13]} and fellow wrestlers^[14][15][16] alike. Overall, he is a seven-time world champion and the first Austrian to compete and win a championship in WWE.