Gunther (wrestler)
Walter Hahn (born 20 August 1987) is an Austrian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Gunther. He is the leader of the Imperium faction and is a former one-time and the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time.
| Gunther | |
|---|---|
Hahn as Walter in 2020 | |
| Birth name | Walter Hahn |
| Born | 20 August 1987 Vienna, Austria |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 1 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Big Van Walter Gha-cha-ping Gunther Man Mountain Walter Pater Walter Walter Walter Hahn |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Billed weight | 297 lb (135 kg) |
| Billed from | Vienna, Austria |
| Trained by | Michael Kovac Tatsuhito Takaiwa Tomohiro Ishii |
| Debut | 19 November 2005 |
Hahn has appeared in a number of independent promotions around the world, predominantly wrestling as Big Van Walter, Big Daddy Walter, and mononymously as Walter. For most of his career, he wrestled in Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), becoming a three-time Unified World Wrestling Champion and the head trainer of the wXw Wrestling Academy upon its opening in 2015. Among the promotions he has wrestled in, he notably wrestled in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where he is a former one-time PWG World Champion, Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), and Progress Wrestling, where he is a former Progress World Champion. Overall, he is a six-time world champion in wrestling and the first Austrian to compete and win a championship in WWE.
After signing with WWE in early 2019, he debuted on the NXT UK brand and became a one-time NXT United Kingdom Champion; his 870-day reign is the longest for the now-defunct title. He moved over to the primary NXT brand in January 2022, 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 historic reign of 666 days has set the title's record for both the longest singular reign and the most cumulative days as champion.