Walter Hahn (born August 20, 1987, Vienna, Austria) is a professional wrestler and trainer from Austria. He currently works for WWE where he competes on the SmackDown brand as Gunther and currently holds the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
Gunther has competed in a variety of independent promotions across the globe. His most notable appearances include Westside Xtreme Wrestling, where he won the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship three times, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, where he was a former one-time PWG World Champion, and Progress Wrestling, where he was a former Progress Unified World Champion.
Gunther is the first Austrian to compete in WWE and a five-time world champion in wrestling. He made his WWE debut on the NXT UK brand in early 2019 after receiving a contract with the company. In 2022, he switched to the main NXT brand and changed his ring name to Gunther. He held the record for the longest reign as the NXT United Kingdom Champion, going 870 days.
| Name | Walter Hahn |
| DOB (Age) | 20 August 1987 (35 years) |
| Height | 1.93 meters |
| Weight | 110 kg |
| Occupation | Professional Wrestler |
| Professional Debut | 2005 |
| Wife | Jinny Sandhu |
| Professional Name | Gunther |
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Gunther debuted for the NXT UK brand in the WWE on January 12, 2019, at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool, when he challenged WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne following Dunne’s successful title defence. Against Jack Starz, Walter made his WWE in-ring debut on the NXT UK programme from January 30th, 2019. In less than 4 minutes, he defeated Starz. When he won the WWE United Kingdom Championship at NXT TakeOver: New York, Dunne’s record-breaking 685-day reign came to an end.
On May 22, Walter defeated Dunne in a rematch to regain the United Kingdom Championship, turning him into a heel and bringing Ringkampf back together as Imperium. Alexander Wolfe later joined the group after interfering in a match between the Imperium and the British Strong Style. Travis Banks defeated Gunther to keep his championship on the NXT UK broadcast from June 26. Imperium interfered with the title fight between Grizzled Young Veterans and Moustache Mountain on the programme airing on July 3; as a result, Grizzled Young Veterans were able to retain their titles. They hurt Tyler Bate after the game.
Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser, made their main roster debuts on the SmackDown program on April 8th. In less than three minutes, Gunther defeated Joe Alonzo. Gunther and Kaiser made their debut as a tag team on the SmackDown episode of May 27 by defeating Ricochet and Drew Gulak. Gunther became the first Austrian to win the Intercontinental Championship on the SmackDown show airing on June 10 by defeating Ricochet. He would defeat Shinsuke Nakamura and Ricochet in a rematch to successfully reclaim the championship.
Ludwig Kaiser announced the reformation of Imperium by reintroducing Fabian Aichner, now known as Giovanni Vinci, before Gunther’s championship defense at Clash at the Castle on 3 September. Gunther then defeated Sheamus in a critically lauded bout to retain the championship, with many calling it the finest match of the evening. The bout was scored five stars by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, making it Gunther’s fifth five-star match and his first on the main roster. On the 7th of October, he defeated Sheamus in a rematch on SmackDown.
Now Gunther will have to face Sheamus and Drew McIntyre to defend his Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 39.
WWE/NXT United Kingdom Championship (1 time)
WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
Gunther married fellow professional wrestler Jinny Sandhu who wrestles in the NXT brand under the ring name Jinny. Jinny was raised in the West London neighborhood of Knightsbridge after being born in London, England. She learned her ropes at Progress Wrestling and became the first female to graduate. In 2012, she graduated from Birmingham City University with a BSc in psychology.
