From 2019 to 2022, GUNTHER cemented his legacy as the longest-reigning WWE NXT UK Champion with a record-setting 870-day title reign.
While speaking to My San Antonio, GUNTHER (fka WALTER) revealed why he was originally hesitant to move up to the WWE main roster after losing the NXT UK Title to Ilja Dragunov. On April 8, 2022, Gunther made his SmackDown debut by defeating Joe Alonzo in under three minutes.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On what his Intercontinental title reign has meant to him: “It’s obviously a great opportunity to prove myself and put myself on the map and in front of a bigger audience than before and to earn the trust (from WWE) to run with the title and contribute to its history in my own way. So, it’s been a very rewarding experience so far. I plan on continuing as long as I can.”
On if Triple H has been responsible for his success on Smackdown: “I think I would want to say about myself, that it doesn’t matter who’s in charge, my performance speaks for itself. But obviously, I have a good connection to Triple H, because he was the one who brought me in. And I think he understood what I am in the ring and understands who can be in the ring. He has given me the opportunities to showcase that. So obviously, yeah, I would say it benefited me, but if there will be anybody else, I think I will be fine too.”
On if his physical transformation changed his in-ring style: “To be fair, I don’t think it changed a lot in my in-ring style. I never had like stamina issues in the ring. I was always good with longer matches too. But I definitely improved that and also my agility as well. I will say that and also the speed I can move with. It definitely has its advantages.”
On his reservations about going to the main roster: “There definitely were some even before I actually started with WWE. I had my reservations for it because was unsure if I was a fit for them and was did it really, fit to me as well. I really was enjoying building up something in Europe or in Germany. We were really building up a foundation for wrestling in the country again because it was broken down for so long. So, I took a lot of pride in that. But obviously, time moves on and time changes. You’ve got to go with the times a little bit. Living in America was never something I was too big into. I love Europe. And I like the lifestyle in Europe. I like to be close to family and stuff. But I think I just outgrew the circumstances there and I just had to move on. I think it came to a point in my career where it was like, ‘Okay, you either make that next step now or just gonna be stagnant for the rest of it.’ And looking back, I’m glad I did it.”
GUNTHER is the reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion and defeated Braun Strowman on the latest episode of SmackDown.
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