Gunther: 10 things you didn't know about the WWE Intercontinental Champion

Gunther is one of the biggest new stars on the WWE main roster, with his old-school style and presentation making him a must-see performer.

Previously known as Walter on both the independent scene and with NXT UK, the Austrian has been successful in every promotion he has worked for, namely Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Progress Wrestling, Evolve and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.

Since his move to Smackdown from NXT UK in April, Gunther has quickly made an impact with his Imperium teammates. He is the current Intercontinental Champion having defeated Ricochet just two months into his main roster run.

Following up on his much-acclaimed bout with Sheamus at Clash at the Castle, Gunther and Imperium will battle the Celtic Warrior’s group, the Brawling Brutes, in a “Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook” match at Extreme Rules this Saturday.

With this in mind, there is probably some things about the Intercontinental Champion that fans remain unaware of, so GiveMeSport takes you through 10 things you didn’t know about Gunther…

Growing up in Vienna, the real-life Walter Hahn played football from the age of six. Unsurprising given his size, he was a goalkeeper. In his teens, his goals shifted to becoming a professional wrestler.

Gunther cut his teeth as a professional wrestler with German promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling (WxW). He continued to wrestle here for much of the next 10 years and was head trainer of the promotion’s wrestling academy until early 2020.

While in WxW, Gunther was a three-time Unified World Wrestling Champion. His second reign lasted for 383 days but was ended in May 2012 by El Generico, now better known as Sami Zayn.

Debuting in the UK for Progress Wrestling, he went by the modified ring name of “Big Daddy Walter.”