Gunther Says Losing Weight Was His Initiative, Not WWE's
Robert Clark
Published Mar 27, 2026
This time last year, WWE SmackDown Superstar Gunther wasn't on SmackDown, he wasn't called Gunther, and he wasn't as ripped as he now is. The Austrian behemoth formerly known as Walter underwent some changes on his journey to WWE's main roster, but if the man himself is to be believed ... a lot of it was his idea.
During a recent interview with German-language outlet Sport1, Gunther opened up about his recent body transformation and denied that WWE had asked him to lose weight.
“It was completely my own initiative,” the former NXT United Kingdom Champion revealed. “For me, it was quite clear — if I want to take the next big step, I have to present more for the general public. Personally, I’ve always been a big fan of old-school Japanese wrestlers who still had a belly and looked like you’d imagine a butcher. Emulating such idols worked for me also because up to now, I’ve been there for the, let’s call it, hardcore wrestling audience," he continued.
RELATED: 5 Wrestlers Gunther Should Face After His WWE Smackdown Debut (& 5 He Shouldn't)
Gunther and his Imperium stablemate Marcel Barthel (now known as Ludwig Kaiser) were called up to WWE's main roster from NXT 2.0 earlier this year. Gunther said the prospect of being called up to a bigger stage inspired him to make a change.
“In the WWE main roster, however, the conditions are different,” Gunther said in the aforementioned Sport1 interview. “You are on a global stage, in the mainstream. From my point of view, you have to present yourself differently. And I prepared well for that in the months leading up to my move to the USA," he added. "Honestly, no one can tell me that anyone who happens to turn on the TV wouldn’t think I was better and more believable the way I looked before than I do now.”
