Gunther Expected WWE Name Change

WALTER had established himself as a star under that name in WWE, even reigning as NXT UK Champion for 870 days, but the company decided to rename Der Ring General when he moved to the United States full-time in January of 2022. 

WALTER has been Gunther ever since and the Intercontinental Champion admitted on Out Of Character with Ryan Satin that he expected the name change. 

"I guessed it. Walter is my real name. And from the side of the company, it makes a lot more sense if you can actually have some ownership over the name of an athlete that you present or put out there to an audience. So I kinda expected it. But it was fine for me," Gunther said. 

The former Imperium leader did have some say on what his new in-ring name would be, noting there were a few no-gos, including Hans. 

"My point was always like Walter is a very old name. Even in Austria, my dad is named Walter. So I'm basically Walter Jr. So it's more like an older people's name. Like nobody aged 30 is usually called Walter. So at the end of the day, it was like to fit the character and stuff like that, it'll be some old German name. There were a few no-gos that I told them. Like Hans or something like that. But Gunther would be one of those that I thought would be a logical choice," he added. 

H/T to Sportskeeda