WWE viewers revolt at the idea of WALTER’s name change

WALTER’s new name caused a lot of backlash after WWE NXT 2.0.

On Tuesday’s edition of WWE NXT, WALTER and Roderick Strong put on a main event match that reminded viewers there’s still great wrestling possible on the show that’s more about characters than anything else. WALTER picked up the important victory, but when he picked up the microphone the focus of the conversation immediately changed.

WALTER introduced himself as Gunther before throwing the microphone down as a brawl broke out between Imperium and Diamond Mine. Wrestling Twitter was set ablaze in a typical, comical fashion as the topic of conversation stuck to the name change rather than the great match everyone just witnessed. Is it an overreaction? Probably. But it’s still fair game to throw at the WWE when the promotion consistently shows that they can’t get out of their own way.

It’s typical for wrestlers to change their name when they join the WWE. Take the Bryan Danielson to Daniel Bryan to Bryan Danielson dilemma that forces content creators to double-check their spelling multiple times. WWE even takes it a step further by suddenly dropping portions of a person’s name when they hit the main roster.

WALTER’s legacy doesn’t need a name change.

With WALTER it’s a little different. We’re talking about an individual that is coming off an 870-day title run within the WWE. He stood atop WWE NXT as the frightening final boss, finally being defeated by Ilja Dragunov at NXT TakeOver 36. He even took part in the 2019 Survivor Series match where he was embarrassingly eliminated in less than three minutes.

Will WALTER or Gunther as he’s called now, still be the imposing force that chops his opponents into oblivion? Yes. But again, that’s not the point. This sudden name change doesn’t create much hope that his legacy and viable as a top threat will be realized one step closer to the main roster. Recent reports came out that Vince McMahon has “given up” on pushing Finn Balor as a top star, so how can there be hope for someone like WALTER who is being hit with this sudden swerve.

Plus, WWE trademarked the name Gunther Stark and media members immediately pointed out that this name has ties to Nazi Germany. Decision-makers in WWE probably didn’t know that historical fact, but to still make the needless choice to change WALTER’s name to Gunther deserves all the animus that was sent it’s way.

WWE didn’t need to change WALTER’s name. Hopefully, wrestling fans will be able to laugh at this just as they did when they bullied the WWE to drop the name “Viking Experience” for the Viking Raiders when they first debuted on the main roster. Still, it’s always a good idea to laugh at the WWE when it fails to leave things alone rather than making unnecessary changes for the worse.