Gunther

On January 12, 2019 at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool, Gunther made his WWE debut under the ring name **Walter**, by confronting WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne after Dunne's successful title defense.

The following week Walter confronted Pete Dunne and Joe Coffey in ring. Although he did not say anything, he made his intentions for Dunne’s WWE UK Championship quite clear. On the edition of February 2 of *NXT UK*, Walter made his in ring debut against Jack Starz. He beat Starz in under four minutes. At NXT TakeOver: New York, Walter defeated Dunne to win the United Kingdom Championship, ending Dunne's record setting reign at 685 days.

On the May 22 episode of *NXT UK*, Walter won a rematch for the United Kingdom Championship against Dunne, after interference by the *European Union* (Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel), thus establishing himself as a heel and forming a new stable called Imperium. The faction would later be joined by Alexander Wolfe, after he interfered in a match pitting Imperium against British Strong Style (the team of Dunne, Tyler Bate, and Trent Seven). On the June 26 episode of *NXT UK*, Walter retained his title against Travis Banks. On the July 3 episode of *NXT UK*, Imperium interfered in Moustache Mountain's title match against Grizzled Young Veterans, therefore allowing Grizzled Young Veterans to retain their titles. After the match, they injured Tyler Bate. This led to match against Bate with Walter's title on the line at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff, where Walter retained.

Imperium appeared on the September 18 episode of *NXT*, where they attacked Denzel Dejournette. Walter cut a promo before the group was confronted by Kushida. Later that night, Imperium got involved in a backstage brawl during the Street Fight main event between Matt Riddle and Killian Dain which ended up at ringside. The following week Aichner, Barthel and Wolfe lost to Kushida and his surprise partners, Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango). On the October 9 episode of *NXT*, Walter defeated Kushida.

Meanwhile, on the October 24 episode of *NXT UK*, Walter and the rest of Imperium came to the ring before being interrupted by Gallus (Mark and Joe Coffey and Wolfgang) who proceeded to insult Walter and state that *NXT UK* was “their kingdom” not Imperium's. Two weeks later, On the November 7 edition of *NXT UK*, Aichner and Barthel attacked Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster while Mark Coffey and Wolfgang attacked Zack Gibson and James Drake during a tag team match between Andrews, Webster, Gibson and Drake. Wolfe and Joe came to their respective factions, before Walter arrived. The two factions squared off in the ring, with the advantage belonging to Imperium, until Ilja Dragunov, whom Wolfe had been trying to persuade to join Imperium, came out to even the odds for Gallus.

On the November 8 episode of *SmackDown* in Manchester, England, Imperium made their main roster debut (and Wolfe’s return) and attacked Heavy Machinery, before being chased off by the *SmackDown* locker room. On the November 11 episode of *Raw*, Walter and Imperium made their *Raw* debut to answer Seth Rollins’ open challenge to the “United Kingdoms best“. As Rollins prepared to hit his finishing move the Curb Stomp, the rest of Imperium attacked him causing a disqualification victory for Rollins. Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) and Kevin Owens ran down to even the odds leading to an eight man tag team match, which Imperium lost after Rollins pinned Wolfe after the Curb Stomp. On the November 22 edition of *SmackDown*, Walter was one of many *NXT* wrestlers who invaded *SmackDown* while being led by Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Road Dogg. Two days later it was announced on the Survivor Series kickoff by Michaels that Walter would be one of the five members of Team *NXT* in the five-on-five-on-five elimination tag team match happening later that night. Walter would be the first man eliminated in the match however, after being hit with Drew McIntyre's *Claymore Kick*; Team *NXT* would also lose the match.

In the build-up for the *NXT UK* and *NXT* co-branded pay-per-view, Worlds Collide, Imperium began feuding with The Undisputed Era (NXT Champion Adam Cole, NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong, and NXT Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly), which was further intensified during the closing moments of NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II on January 12, 2020, when the group attacked Imperium following Walter's successful title defense against Joe Coffey. During his reign the following week, the WWE United Kingdom Championship was renamed to the NXT United Kingdom Championship and he was presented with a slightly updated belt design, replacing the WWE logo at the center with the *NXT UK* logo. On the October 29 episode of *NXT UK*, Walter retained the championship in a match against Ilja Dragunov. On the January 14, 2021 episode of *NXT UK*, Walter would face A-Kid for his United Kingdom Title and retain the title. On February 19, 2021, Walter became the longest-reigning NXT United Kingdom Champion, breaking Pete Dunne's record of 685 days. On the March 17 episode of *NXT*, Walter would return to *NXT* and decimate Tommaso Ciampa. It would later be announced that at NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver night one, Walter defended his NXT UK Title against Ciampa and retained. On the March 24 episode of *NXT*, Walter would defeat Drake Maverick. On April 5, his championship reign surpassed the two-year mark. Two days later at NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver, Walter retained the title against Ciampa. The next day, on *NXT UK Prelude*, Walter would successfully defend his title against Rampage Brown. At NXT TakeOver: 36, Walter dropped the title to Ilja Dragunov in a rematch, ending his historic reign at 870 days.

At NXT New Year's Evil on January 4, 2022, Walter made his return to the main *NXT* brand by teaming up with Imperium stablemates Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel to face Riddle and MSK (Nash Carter and Wes Lee) in a six-man tag team match, which they lost. After having his final match on *NXT UK* on January 13, where he defeated Nathan Frazer, Walter was officially transferred to the *NXT* brand. On the January 18 episode of *NXT 2.0*, Walter defeated Roderick Strong in the main event, after which, he announced his new ring name as **Gunther**. On the March 1 episode of *NXT 2.0*, Gunther defeated Solo Sikoa after two powerbombs, thus ending Sikoa's undefeated streak. In mid-March, Gunther began feuding with LA Knight when he took offense at the latter getting an NXT Championship match by calling out Dolph Ziggler. The next week, after Gunther defeated Duke Hudson, Knight challenged him to a match at NXT Stand and Deliver, which Gunther won.

On the April 8 edition of *SmackDown*, Gunther, alongside Imperium stablemate Barthel (now known as Ludwig Kaiser) made their main roster debut. In his debut match, Gunther defeated a local competitor with a powerbomb. On the June 10 edition of *SmackDown*, Gunther defeated Ricochet to win the Intercontinental Championship, making him the first Austrian to win the title. Gunther retained against Ricochet two weeks later on *SmackDown* and Shinsuke Nakamura on the August 12 episode of *SmackDown*. Prior to Gunther's title defense at Clash at the Castle on September 3, Ludwig Kaiser announced the reformation of Imperium by reintroducing Fabian Aichner, now known as Giovanni Vinci. Gunther subsequently defeated Sheamus to retain the title. On the November 4 episode of *SmackDown*, Gunther successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship against Rey Mysterio in the show's main event. He would follow this up with another successful title defense against Ricochet on the December 16 episode of *SmackDown.* On the January 13 episode of *SmackDown,* Gunther successfully defended the title against Braun Strowman. At the Royal Rumble on January 29, Gunther entered at number one and lasted until the final two, being eliminated by winner Cody Rhodes. His performance was the longest in history (excluding the Greatest Royal Rumble), lasting 1:11:25. On the February 17 episode of *SmackDown,* Gunther successfully defended the title against Madcap Moss. On Night Two of WrestleMania 39 on April 2, Gunther retained the title against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre in a triple threat match.

As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Gunther was drafted to the *Raw* brand. At Night of Champions on May 27, Gunther successfully defended the title against Mustafa Ali. On the May 29 edition of *Raw*, Gunther confronted Matt Riddle, and on the June 19 edition of *Raw*, Gunther would attack Riddle's ankle after a match. A week later, Riddle would challenge Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship at Money in the Bank, which Gunther accepted after attacking Riddle again. At the event, Gunther was successful in retaining the championship. After the match, Drew McIntyre returned and confronted Gunther, who would then take him down with a *Glasgow Kiss* followed by a *Claymore*. At SummerSlam, Gunther defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the championship. On the August 21 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; however, as championships do not change hands by countout or disqualification unless otherwise stipulated, Gunther remained champion. After defeating Gable and successfully defending the title on the September 4 edition of *Raw*, Gunther officially became the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time on September 8, passing the Honky Tonk Man's previous record of 454 days. Gunther went on to retain his title against Tommaso Ciampa on the October 2 episode of *Raw* and Bronson Reed on the October 16 episode of *Raw.* On November 25 at Survivor Series WarGames, Gunther successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz. Gunther went on to defeat The Miz in a rematch on the December 18 episode of *Raw*.