The Austrian born wXw Academy head coach is making international waves since his last US tour in 2017. The following lines are trying to get a look at the Chopmonster from Vienna and the history of the international success of the man they call WALTER.
WALTER
The “Ringgeneral” was trained by Michael Kovac, Tatsuhito Kataiwa and Tomohiro Ishii. These names, especially the last one, are widely known. Ishii is considered one of the best in the world today. Ishii has won the Wrestling Observer award for “best Brawler” each of the last four years. Walter debuted in 2005. He is the first and only wrestler to sign a working contract with wXw. Which makes him the only wrestler in Europe who is permanently employed by one company.
International History
In 2007 WALTER wrestled in Japan for ZERO1, he was then known under the name of “Gha-cha-ping“. He debuted in the US in 2010 when he wrestled for CZW during the partnership between CZW and wXw. WALTER and Karsten Beck lost a Tag Team match against Tommy End (Aleister Black) and Zack Sabre Jr. during the “Walking on Pins and Needles” event. That even was headlined by a “Barefoot Thumbtacks Death Match” between JC Bailey and Thumbtack Jack. One year later, he returned to Japan for three BJW events. Amongst other matches, WALTER faced Daisuke Sekimoto and teamed with DJ Hyde against Abdullah Kobayashi. Another eight matches in Japan were contested in 2012. In one of those, WALTER competed for the BJW Strong World Heavyweight Title, but lost to Yoshihito Sasaki.
RevPro UK was founded in 2012. On one of the first ever event cards of this young promotion, Walter faced El Generico in Sittingbourne Kent, England. He competed three times for Revolution Pro that year. During the “World Triangle League 2013″, which was a jointed show between wXw, CZW and BJW, the “Ringgeneral” had a very watchable 23:35-minute match with Daisuke Sekimoto. PROGRESS introduced him to their crowd during the Super Strongstyle 16 tournament in 2015. This started a connection between the British company and wXw that is still ongoing. It led to many partner shows and will likely lead to many more. Another four matches for PROGRESS were fought in 2016. He faced Chris Hero, a man who heavily influenced wXw in their evolution to the product and presentation of today. WALTER also returned to RevPro during their “Angle vs Sabre” event where he came up short against Big Damo.
2017 – The Breakthrough
PROGRESS booked the RINGKAMPF member for 12 more dates. He won the Atlas Title from Matt Riddle in a three-way that also included fellow RINGKAMPF member Timothy Thatcher in September. The RINGKAMPF team challenged for the PROGRESS Tag Team belts three-times in that year, although unsuccessfully. He made his EVOLVE debut when he defended his Altlas title against Fred Yehi. His other matches for EVOLVE in 2017 were against Matt Riddle, Keith Lee for the WWN Title and a four-way match with Riddle, Lee and Tracy Williams. He had two matches for BEYOND against David Starr and Donovan Dijak.
Then, WALTER debuted for PWG. He had his first showing in Reseda at BOLA 2017 where he lost to Keith Lee in a first-round match. One day later he was part of a classic multi-man tag match. He returned at All Star Weekend 13 for both nights. He lost to Ricochet on the first show. WALTER defeated Zach Sabre Jr. one day later in a highly praised 5-Star match (Meltzer rating). The fans loved him at that point and his chops were echoing through the American Legion Post #308.
2018 – Domination
After losing to Travis Banks via Count-Out in a PROGRESS World Title match at Super Strongstyle 16, WALTER vacated his Atlas title to get another title shot. He has won all of seven matches in PROGRESS this year and is on his way to another title.
The feud with Sekimoto was brought to EVOLVE 102 when RINGKAMPF faced Sekimoto & Munenori Sawa. This year, he also faced Nick Gage, ZSJ, Catch Point etc. in EVOLVE. In the 2016 formed promotion DEFIANT, WALTER became the number 1 contender for Travis Banks Internet title by winning two matches against David Starr. The title match itself ended in a draw.
During the Wrestlemania weekend, he had a match that got a lot of attention afterwards, a match which is considered one of the best of the whole weekend: WALTER vs PCO. Pierre Carl Ouellet had an outstanding match with the man from Austria at “Joey Janela´s Spring Break 2.” One day before, he had a shoot-style match with Tom Lawler at Matt Riddle´s Bloodsport show. Both shows were organized by Gamechanger Wrestling (GCW). He Also wrestled for Fight Club: PRO, ATTACK! and RIPTIDE Wrestling this year.
In PWG, RINGKAMPF challenged for the Tag Team belts in January against the Chosen Bros but came up short. Then, at All Star Weekend 14 in April, after defeating Violence Unlimited (Brody King & Tyler Bateman) with Timothy Thatcher, WALTER challenged for the PWG World Title at Night two. The Ringgeneral captured the Title from Keith Lee in a three-way match that also included Jonah Rock.
WALTER is scheduled to defend his title against Sammy Guevara on Friday, May 25th at PWG “Bask In His Glory” and he is set to make his OTT debut on Saturday, June 2nd.
2018 seems to shape up to one of the most successful years for WALTER and despite being heavily demanded internationally he still has his main focus on wXw and growing his home promotion. And maybe, as a result of his international success, we will see a match against his former coach Tomohiro Ishii at some point in the future.
