Walter Graham

**Walter Graham** (born 9th September, 1977) is an American business executive and retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his time on the American independent scene in the early 2000s, where he was primarily used as an enhancement talent by many big name wrestling promotions in the world at that time, but is also well-renowned for his time in New York-based professional wrestling promotion Next Generation Wrestling, where he was originally brought in as head booker but took over the company full-time after the departure of Danny Bison.

Using his own personal funds which he accumulated throughout his wrestling career, Walter Graham managed to keep Next Generation Wrestling afloat and alive until January 2016, when he was forced to close the company down due to his imminent bankruptcy. Nothing has been heard of him since, but it assumed that he retired to a peaceful life at home in Philadelphia.

Graham, who had a hand in the coaching and wrestling development of various NGW talents throughout his tenure as owner and head booker, is credited as one of the many men behind the scenes at NGW who helped to develop some of the best gimmicks and wrestlers on the wrestling scene today, including people like Tyler Keenan, Ryan Vendetta and more, who would go on to have great success elsewhere.

### Professional Wrestling Career

Graham spent the majority of his career as enhancement talent. Known for being a remarkably great seller, he excelled in his role and was rewarded lucratively. He experienced very few pushes, but in 2011, after eight years of in-ring performance, he received his first major push in a Texas-based wrestling promotion. This push ended in a main event championship match on pay-per-view, which Graham lost. A subsequent rematch the following week again resulted in Graham coming up short. Shortly thereafter Graham departed from in-ring performance to take up various backstage roles, which would ultimately lead to his role in Next Generation Wrestling as head booker.

Although not initially intending on competing in the fledgling promotion, his behind-the-scenes friendship with Guernica led to the two of them having a rivalry in 2015. During a number one contender's match between Guernica and Nathan Cage, Graham interfered by attacking the referee and Guernica before personally counting the pin that cost Guernica his championship opportunity. Graham would explain his actions by expressing anger at the thought of a luchadore being his company's champion, as it was a luchadore that ended Graham's brief moment of stardom. Graham competed against Guernica in losing effort in a lumberjack match at NGW: Cyberclash. Unable to accept defeat - and knowledgeable of his ringrust and age, Graham declared a second match with both men leading teams for a Luchas de Apuestas elimination tag team match. If Guernica lost, he would be prohibited from competing for any championships while in NGW. If Graham lost, he would not be permitted to step foot in the arena during an NGW event, thereby indefinitely preventing him from interfering in matches.

Team Graham consisted of himself, Generation Global (Tyler Keenan and Christopher Jordan - then known as Extremely Lethal), Chris Young, and Carlos Bello. They faced off unsuccessfully against Team Guernica, which consisted of Guernica, Danger Zone (Ryan Vendetta and Storm Andrews), and then-NGW Tag Team Champions WKTT (Raine and Sloane). This match headlined NGW: Fallout and helped launch Tyler Keenan into stardom due to his intense confrontation with Guernica after both men became the final member of their team still in the match. It was well received by viewers and ultimately Graham honored his part of the deal by refusing to step into an NGW arena again until the company closed its doors. While Graham never achieved the spotlight he desired during his career, the success of the tag match became a distinct honor for Graham outside of kayfabe. When asked about the storyline on a podcast, Graham expressed gratitude towards Guernica and credits his work as a babyface for bringing out the best of Graham. Graham's final on-camera appearance came during Guernica's championship match with Jeffry Mason at NGW: Meltdown, with Graham preventing Jeffry from using a vehicle to run over Guernica after their last man standing match spilled out into the parking lot outside the arena.

### After NGW

Next Generation Wrestling closed its doors in January 2016 after Graham's ability to financially support the company finally collapsed. He filed for bankruptcy and experienced a rough year dealing with his monetary struggles. Slowly, however, he has started to get back up on his feet. Graham now works for Royal Wrestling Kingdom, where he works as a character development consultant.

## In Wrestling

**Finishing Moves:**

* *Gentleman's End* (Full nelson facebuster)

**Signature Moves:**

* Snap DDT
* Low blow
* Snap suplex
* Arm drag
* Knife-edged chop
* Dropkick
* Diving crossbody

**Entrance Themes:**

* "When You're Evil" by Voltaire