It’s becoming a running theme in the WWE that they don’t seem to understand the true calibre of some of the talent they employ. Take WALTER as an example. ‘The Ring General’ might be one of the most under-utilized wrestlers across the entire roster.
Admittedly, that is a strange thing to say about the man who has held the NXT UK Championship for nearly a year. WALTER has had several incredible defences during that time; his most recent bout with “Bomber” Dave Mastiff was an absolute barn burner. It was two bulls clashing in a pay-per-view worthy match. WALTER’s success is a huge reason why NXT UK has drawn eyes on the WWE Network.
But outside of NXT UK, the WWE doesn’t seem to understand the wrestling juggernaut they have on their hands.
At Survivor Series 2019, WALTER was part of the NXT Men’s team alongside Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Damian Priest and Matt Riddle. They all got a huge pop but WALTER in particular got a lot of love. Unfortunately, he was eliminated almost immediately by McIntyre with a Claymore Kick. The boos for the quick disappearance of a fan favorite were huge.
Royal Rumble 2020 was even worse for WALTER. Despite a superb showing alongside the rest of Imperium against the Undisputed Era the night before on Worlds Collide, WALTER was not an entrant in the Men’s Royal Rumble match. This seems like a huge miss as he could have been a major player. In the end, the only members of either NXT brand in the Men’s Royal Rumble were Matt Riddle and Keith Lee.
WALTER’s dominance in NXT UK has not translated to the rest of the WWE at all. It’s almost like WWE management are concerned that fans in North America don’t know who WALTER is. They shouldn’t be.
The 300+ pound Austrian has been wrestling around the world since his debut in 2005, holding championships almost everywhere he has gone. Pro Wrestling Illustrated named him number 14 on their list of the top 500 singles wrestlers for 2019. Before his time in NXT UK, WALTER locked horns with some of the biggest wrestlers NXT has now, including the aforementioned Keith Lee and Matt Riddle.
In Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, he and Timothy Thatcher faced Jeff Cobb and Matt Riddle for the tag championships. He defeated Keith Lee and Jonah Rock, aka Bronson Reed, in a three-way match to claim the PWG World Championship. He subsequently lost it to Jeff Cobb. In Defiant Wrestling, he defeated Zack Sabre, Jr. for the Defiant Internet Championship.
WWE fans know all of this and they want to see these matches. They want to see WALTER play an increasingly important role in WWE. His upcoming TakeOver match with Finn Balor, another undervalued superstar, could change the game for both men. They are talented and athletic in different ways, so the match has the potential to be absolutely brilliant. Whether the NXT UK Championship is at stake or not, it will be two talented wrestlers going at it for glory.
But it’s hard to say if that will ever happen. WALTER has become a cornerstone of their UK division. That being said, fans thought the same thing about Pete Dunne and Rhea Ripley, both of whom are now champions on NXT.
The problem is that WALTER is so connected to the NXT UK Championship that it’s hard to picture him without it. By the time WrestleMania 36 rolls around, WALTER will have been champion for a full year and it’s unlikely that he’s losing the belt before then. WWE seems to be building up to a match between Finn Balor and WALTER at NXT TakeOver: Tampa Bay. Whether it’s a title match or not remains to be seen. Regardless of whether it happens in Tampa Bay or after that, WALTER will lose the NXT UK Championship at some point.
It could be Finn Balor at NXT TakeOver: Tampa Bay, a likely option since WALTER has run through pretty much everyone else in NXT UK that poses a threat. But someone like Tyler Bate, Joe Coffey or Travis Banks could still step up and take the belt. It’s fair to say that fans would love to see Trent Seven win the championship.
What’s the plan after that?
Any time a wrestler like Asuka or Pete Dunne has some sort of streak or lengthy title run going, they struggle to find the same level of relevance after it’s gone. Curt Hawkins has had a lot less TV time since his incredibly long losing streak came to an end.
WALTER’s run as the NXT UK Champion has defined his time in WWE. If there isn’t a solid plan in place after it’s done, ‘The Ring General’ could flounder, as hard as that is to believe. But it happens. There was a time that no one could imagine Asuka outside of the main event picture. These days, she’s consistently sacrificed to further storylines she isn’t even a part of so other people can compete for championships. Her issues all started when her streak was broken by Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania.
WWE needs to keep building WALTER’s myth so that losing a long run with a championship doesn’t necessitate a whole new gimmick. He has the potential to define the next generation of WWE wrestlers and should just move seamlessly to the next story. If the WWE play their cards right, fans will be watching WALTER versus Keith Lee for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 38.
For that to happen, WALTER would have to follow a similar path to Rhea Ripley and Pete Dunne by shifting his focus to NXT. Main event dominance there will lead WALTER on the WrestleMania main event path he should be on.
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