WALTER Renamed Gunther On WWE NXT
The Austrian Anomaly announces controversial change
Jan 19, 2022
Following his victory over Roderick Strong in the main event of last night's episode of NXT 2.0, WALTER grabbed the microphone and stated that the winner of the match was actually called 'Gunther' (before throwing the microphone down).
The announcement came the day after it had emerged that WWE had filed to trademark the name 'Gunther Stark'.
That news resulted in backlash from some sections of the fanbase, who pointed out that Gunther Stark was the name of a man who served as a Nazi Germany military commander during World War II.
It makes sense to assume that WWE likely trademarked that name for WALTER.
However, WALTER (or should that be Gunther?) never mentioned a new surname on last night's broadcast. It is probable that WWE were not aware of the connection before they filed for the trademark.
The decision to rename WALTER has not been a hit with fans so far, and many took to social media to express their dissatisfaction with the new moniker.
Former WWE star Keith Lee was among them, tweeting: "Man....if what I'm hearing is real....Poor Walter."
