Walter Hahn (born 20 August 1987) is an Austrianprofessional wrestler. He is signed toWWE, where he performs on theRawbrand under thering nameGunther. NicknamedDer Ringgeneral (German for "The Ring General"), his wrestlinggimmick sees him follow a stiff wrestling style[3] (which had been inspired by the likes ofStan Hansen,[4][5]Big Van Vader,[5] andKenta Kobashi)[4][6] and a philosophy signified by the motto "Die Matte ist Heilig" (German for "The Mat is Sacred").[7]
Hahn first became known under the ring namesBig Van Walter,Big Daddy Walter, and simplyWalter (sometimes written inall caps) during his tenure in Germany withWestside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) and various German independent promotions. Early in his career, he competed in Japan forBig Japan Pro-Wrestling (BJW) andPro Wrestling ZERO1 under the Big Van Walter gimmick, as well as the short-livedGha-Cha-Ping. In wXw, he became a three-timeUnified World Wrestling Champion and a four-timewXw World Tag Team Champion. He was one of the promotion's most respected figures throughout his tenure, leading him to become the head trainer of the wXw Wrestling Academy from 2015 to 2020. He also became a popular figure on the British, Irish, and Americanindependent circuits, competing in promotions such asProgress Wrestling,Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), andOver the Top Wrestling (OTT), where he held their respective world championships between 2018 and 2019.
In November 2018, Hahn signed with WWE as Walter and was assigned to itsNXT UK brand, a United Kingdom sister brand of its Americandevelopmental brandNXT; he soon won theNXT United Kingdom Championship and held it for 870 days, the longest reign for the now-defunct title and the eighth overall longest singles title reign for any WWE championship. In January 2022, he moved to the NXT brand, where his ring name was changed toGunther. He moved to the main roster on theSmackDown brand three months later where he won theWWE Intercontinental Championshiponce, holding it for 666 days to set the record for both the longest singular reign with the title and the most cumulative days as champion, as well as the 10th-longest singles championship reign of any WWE title. After losing it atWrestleMania XL, he won the23rd King of the Ring tournament and theWorld Heavyweight Championship a record-setting (now record-tying) two times.
Walter Hahn was born inVienna on 20 August 1987. He became interested inprofessional wrestling at a young age when a friend taped numerousWWE shows from 1992 to 1996 on theRTL andPro7 channels, and kept tapes of shows from promotions such asAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW),[6] and let Hahn borrow them. Hahn soon started collecting his own tapes of professional wrestling matches. He was also a spectator for a number ofcatch wrestling shows in Vienna at an early age, seeing wrestlers such asFit Finlay,William Regal, andRobbie Brookside at said shows.[3] At the same time, he was interested infootball and played as agoalkeeper,[3] but stopped playing around the age of 15.[8] He went back to watching professional wrestling during theAttitude Era and became inspired enough to start training in Vienna under Michael Kovac, a wrestler fromLinz, at Wrestling School Austria.[2] According to Hahn, Kovac made him and the other students practiceamateur wrestling to benefit their overall professional wrestling abilities. Kovac would also charge€35 for private lessons.[8]
From the beginning of his career in 2005 until 2014, Hahn went by thering nameBig Van Walter. The name was a direct reference toBig Van Vader, but it was not a homage. According to Hahn, commentator Mark Landauer gave him the name, and Landauer went on to tell promoters that Hahn's stage name would be Big Van Walter, which annoyed Hahn.[8] Hahn had his first recorded wrestling match on 19 November 2005 inBern,[2] competing in a tag team match alongside SigMasta Rappo (who, at the time, was under the ring-name Sigi The SwissTank); they lost to the High Class Catch Club (Baron von Hagen and Adam Polak).[9] At the time of this match, Walter was 18 years old. He had his first singles match on 25 March 2006 inBad Vöslau, defeating Sigi The SwissTank.[10] In the early months of his career, he had his first matches with future rivals and wXw colleaguesJohn Klinger andAbsolute Andy, as well as competing in matches with the likes ofColt Cabana,Pac and"Bambikiller" Chris Raaber.
According to Hahn, he wanted to initially hone his skills and train further in theUnited States; however, Chris Raaber wanted him to train inJapan due to the similarities within one of Raaber's trainers,Dory Funk Jr., and currentpuroresu trainers. Raaber reached out toPro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX, the foundedpromotion ofShinya Hashimoto andShinjiro Otani, and asked if Hahn could train with ZERO1-MAX and its heavyweight trainers, which consisted ofRiki Choshu and his protegeTomohiro Ishii, andTatsuhito Takaiwa. Hahn began training at the ZERO1-MAX dojo, which had also been a training facility used by members of theHUSTLE andPride Fighting Championship rosters, in December 2006.[8] Hahn was assigned the gimmick of Gha-cha-ping, the off-shoot wrestling gimmick ofHirake! Ponkikki [jp] characterGachapin.[11] For the gimmick, Hahn had his hair dyed green and wore a mask to the ring, complete with a light green singlet with yellow and pink lines in the center, contrasting to Gachapin. He made his debut as Gha-cha-ping on 17 January 2007, teaming with Raaber (as Bambikiller) to defeat Otani and Rikiya Fudo.[12] For two days afterwards, Hahn defeated Fudo in singles matches and thenFuyujirou Jidosha [jp]. His first loss as the gimmick came on 10 February, losing toKohei Sato inHiroshima; he lost to him again inNagano on 19 February as well. His last match on the tour took place on 7 April, defeating Jidosha, as Jiro Kuruma, at theYasukuni Shrine Sumo Wrestling Place inTokyo.
Hahn returned to Japan in 2008, ditching the Gha-cha-ping gimmick and going as Big Van Walter, for two shows for the Makehen promotion. First, on 19 March, he teamed withLance Archer, who went by his real name Lance Hoyt, losing to Masato Shibata (the futureMad Paulie) andTomohiko Hashimoto. On 28 March, he teamed withDaisuke Sekimoto to defeat Shibata and Hashimoto.
In the midst of his run in wXw, in 2011, he took part in numerous shows with their main Japanese partner at the time, Big Japan Pro Wrestling. At Korakuen Hall, on 28 April, he defeated then-rookieRyuichi Kawakami. Four days later, on 2 May, he defeatedDaisuke Sekimoto to win the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship, his second reign overall. In Yokohama, on 5 May, he teamed withCombat Zone Wrestling (CZW) ownerD. J. Hyde to defeatAbdullah Kobayashi andShadow WX. He returned to Japan in April 2012, teaming with Sekimoto to defeat Yoshihito Sasaki andBJW Strong aceYuji Okabayashi. On 5 May 2012, Walter was defeated by Sasaki in a match to crown the inauguralBJW World Strong Heavyweight champion inYokohama, a defeat considered vengeful for Sasaki as Walter had defeated him in a Unified World Wrestling Championship defense a year prior.[13][14] Two months later, in July 2007, he took part in an inter-promotional tour with BJW, wXw and CZW wrestlers on a "World Triangle Night" showcase tour. The first match of the tour for Walter, on 27 July, involved him and fellow wXw wrestlersRobert Dreissker and"Bad Bones" John Klinger losing to Okabayashi, Sekimoto and Sasaki. Walter and Dreissker, who would later be known as theAUTsiders in Europe, defeated Sasaki andShinya Ishikawa a day later. On 29 July, he and Klinger defeated Okabayashi and Sekimoto, and then defeated Okabayashi in a singles match hours later. On 30 July, he and Dreissker failed to win thewXw World Tag Team Championships, losing to the Sumerian Death Squad (Tommy End and Michael Dante).
In late 2019, it was announced that Walter would compete at BJW'sRyogokutan 2019 show, at theRyōgoku Kokugikan, where he would team with Sekimoto to face Okabayashi andYuji Hino. Sekimoto and Walter won the match.[15]
At 16 Carat Gold 2012, Walter started a partnership with fellow Austrian wrestlerRobert Dreissker, being dubbed "The AUTsiders" later on. Walter and Dreissker defeatedJay Skillet andJonathan Gresham to win thewXw World Tag Team Championship at day three of 16 Carat Gold on 3 March 2013, a day after Walter failed to win his third Unified World Wrestling Championship againstAxel Tischer.[22] Their first defense of the titles came at the Hasta La Victoria Siempre Tour Finale, where they would defeat the Sumerian Death Squad and the Leaders Of The New School (Zack Sabre Jr. andMarty Scurll).[23] During the reign they would successfully defend against the teams ofMasashi Takeda andDrake Younger,[24] Skillet andRicky Marvin,[25]D. J. Hyde andKarsten Beck (two allies of the tag team), and Maxi Schneider and Michael Schenkenberg. They would later lose the titles at 258 days inHamburg during the 13th Anniversary tour toHot & Spicy (Axel Dieter Jr. andDa Mack).[26]
In October 2013, Walter competed at a ceremonial World Triangle League tournament withCZW andBJW wrestlers. He was one of three wXw qualifying wrestlers (alongside Dreiskker andJohn Klinger). Walter lost his block by losing to eventual overall winnerDaisuke Sekimoto on the third day of the tournament after defeating Drake Younger and Kim Ray on the first and second days respectively.
Big Daddy Walter, Ringkampf, and tag team with Timothy Thatcher (2014–2018)
In 2014, he changed his ring name toBig Daddy Walter, winning his third Unified World Wrestling Championship on July after he defeated Tommy End.[27] He lost the title against Karsten Beck in January 2015, after 174 days as champion, in a match whereVince Russo appeared as the special referee and planned ascrewjob against Walter.[28]
In 2015, Walter, alongside Axel Dieter Jr., Axel Tischer and Christian Michael Jakobi, the then-headbooker and managing director of wXw, released an apparel brand entitledRingkampf (German:ring fight).[29] Its apparel became worn by Walter, Dieter and Tischer throughout 2015 and 2016. In 2016, however, Ringkampf evolved into a full-on stable. For months, Walter appeared to have an alliance withAmerican wrestlerTimothy Thatcher, who shared a similar style to Walter. After Dieter, Walter and Thatcher began appearing aligned with each other in August of that year in the lead up to the World Tag Team League that'd happen between 31 October and 2 November, the three, along with Jakobi, created the Ringkampf stable and began sharing its motto,"Die Matte Ist Hellig" (German: "The Mat is Sacred"). The philosophy of Ringkampf was that they would only care about the scarcity of professional wrestling and the stable's superiority over all. Walter began to incorporate the nickname "The Ring General" within this time period. Thatcher and Walter were allied together to compete at the World Tag Team League; they defeatedMoustache Mountain andLos Güeros del Cielo on the first and third days of the weekend, and lost to JML (David Starr andShane Strickland) on the second day, failing to reach the finals.[30] Nevertheless, the team of Walter and Dieter were granted a wXw World Tag Team Championship match at the 16th Anniversary show on 10 December, against the incumbent champions, A4 (Absolute Andy andMarius Al-Ani), in a two-out-of-three falls match, which they lost two falls to one.[31]
At a show in London on 28 January 2017, Walter lost a top contendership match to Jurn Simmons. Afterwards, Ringkampf started a series of matches with A4, who had been rivalrous to Ringkampf since the latter's World Tag Team League run. Between 11 and 24 February, Ringkampf and A4, who also competed alongside Simmons and Günter Schmid, had their overall match series tied 2-2, notably after Ringkampf's Dieter and Walter beat A4 at Dead End XVI.[32] At a show inDüsseldorf on 4 March, Walter lost toMatt Riddle.[33] Walter later competed at the2017 16 Carat Gold tournament, along with the coinciding AMBITION 8 between 10 and 12 March. After beating David Starr and Marius Al-Ani by referee's decision within two days, Walter vengefully defeated Matt Riddle before losing to Ilja Dragunov in the finals of the tournament.[33] At the AMBITION 8 tournament, he lost in the first round toJeff Cobb.[34]
Within 31 March and 6 June 2017, Walter failed to gain the Unified World Wrestling Championship thrice by losing to the incumbent champion, Jurn Simmons. First, on 31 March, he lost to him by pinfall in a singles match inLudwigshafen, then lost in a four-way match that also involved Axel Dieter Jr. andMike Bailey on 8 April inDresden,[35] and finally during another singles match inErfurt. It was announced in April 2017 that Axel Dieter Jr. would leave wXw to sign with WWE.[36] He failed to win the Shortcut To The Top battle royale on 1 July. At Inner Circle 4 on 5 October 2017, amidst the World Tag Team League weekend, he defeated Thatcher in an "AMBITION rules" match.[37] At the same time, they were partnered up in the league itself. They advanced in their block, defeatedThe Briscoe Brothers andEYFBO in the process, whilst losing toHomicide andLow Ki, They defeated David Starr and Jurn Simmons in the finals of the tournament, and, in the process, also won the wXw World Tag Team Championships, his third overall reign.
On 15 October 2017, inLeipzig, Walter failed to win the Unified World Wrestling Championship again, this time in a no contest in a four-way match against incumbent champion John Klinger (who had become the biggest heel in the company with his factionRISE), Ilja Dragunov and Jurn Simmons. Thatcher and Walter's first defense as World Tag Team Champions came on 3 November, defeatingBobby Gunns and Jaxon Stone. The next day, on 4 November, they successfully defended against RISE members Da Mack and leader John Klinger. They defeated them again, successfully defending the titles, on 17 November, whilst defeating Stone and Gunns again the next day in a tornado-tag elimination match. They defeated Julian Nero and Dreissker on 8 December, with Dreissker now going by the name Avalanche. On 23 December, at wXw's 17 Anniversary, Walter and Thatcher defeated Tarkan Aslan and his brotherLucky Kid in another successful defense.[38]
At the 16 Carat Gold 2018 weekend, Walter was scheduled to compete in a wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship match at the Saturday show against John Klinger. However, Walter announced before the beginning of the match that the stipulation had changed to a three-way and, subsequently,Ilja Dragunov returned to the company to face both Klinger and Walter. Dragunov defeated both to win the championship, after striking Klinger with hisTorpedo Moskau maneuver.[39][40] The next day, Thatcher and Walter lost their tag titles to Klinger and Da Mack.[41]
To have one thing absolutely clear, right from the start: the only reason all of you are sitting here, and the only reason wXw is able to have almost 900 people in attendance, is the hard work myself andIlja put in! ... No need to applaud; you're part of the problem. When I took one hour of my well-deserved time off for a meet and greet, what did I read then? "WALTER? That's nothing special. He's always been around!". You (the wXw fans) are the most arrogant pile of scum I've ever encountered in my life!
We both realized one thing, and each and everyone of you has to understand this. When I was standing inNew York, and had achievedthis title, I realized I was destined for bigger things than the shit around here! ... From now on, we are no longer "your wXw guys"; we are superstars! And, from now on, our mission is to eradicate this problem around here: the two of you (Aussie Open), you are showmen; and, we are taking what we deserve. No matter if you like it or anyone else, you can kiss our asses!
Between 24 March and 5 May, Walter failed to, yet again, win the Unified World Wrestling Championship. Dragunov would defeat Walter, alongside David Starr and Travis Banks, at a show in London on 24 March,[43] and then defeat Walter in 3 straight championship matches on 13 April, 14 April and 5 May[44] inLimbach-Oberfrohna,Dresden andOberhausen[44] respectively. He failed to win both the Shortcut To The Top battle royale and the World Tag Team Championships in August and September, and failed to win the World Tag Team League in October with Thatcher, despite their two wins in their four-team block. He failed to win the Shotgun Championship againstMarius Al-Ani inHof in October 2018. Walter did, in contrast to his shortcomings, win the AMBITION 11 tournament on 8 August 2019 inToronto,Ontario,Canada.[45]
During the2019 16 Carat Gold tournament between 8 and 10 March 2019, Walter lost in the finals toLucky Kid after he defeated David Starr,Fenix and Avalanche in the previous stages.[46] At Superstars of Wrestling on 1 June, after Walter defeatedWheeler Yuta earlier in the show, Walter and Ilja attackedAussie Open and"Hardcore" Bob Holly after their match on the show. During the assault, Walter and Ilja attacked the wXw fans and stated that the "hard work [they] put in ... is the only reason wXw is able to have people in attendance". At the Shortcup To The Top 2019 event on 3 August, he and Ilja Dragunov defeated Aussie Open to win the World Tag Team Championships, with Walter now being a four-time tag champion.[47] On 3 August, Walter failed to win the Shortcut To The Top battle royale again, this time losing to Timothy Thatcher. On 9 August in Toronto, Walter defeatedDaisuke Sekimoto. On 13 September, Walter and Dragunov lost their titles to Aussie Open; they lost in their rematch clause the next day.[48]
Due to him now being signed with WWE and performing on theNXT UK brand, his schedule became slim for independent bookings. Before the start of theCOVID-19 pandemic and its spread inGermany, Walter competed on two wXw shows on 8 March during the 16 Carat Gold weekend, first defeatingShigehiro Irie on a live stream and, later, at the 16 Carat show itself, Thatcher and Walter collaborated withDaisuke Ikeda andYuki Ishikawa, with Walter and Ikeda losing to Thatcher and Ishikawa in a tag team match.[49] Walter had his final wXw match to date on 18 December 2021, defeatingCara Noir at their 21st Anniversary show.[50]
British and Irish independent circuits (2011–2012, 2015–2020)
On 31 August atNXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff, Walter retained his title againstTyler Bate. Imperium also faced the NXT factionThe Undisputed Era (Adam Cole,Roderick Strong, andBobby Fish andKyle O'Reilly) at the NXT UK andNXT co-branded event,Worlds Collide. During his reign, the WWE United Kingdom Championship was renamed to NXT United Kingdom Championship.[69] On the 29 October 2020 episode ofNXT UK, Walter defeatedIlja Dragunov in a title defense that was highly praised.[70] On 19 February 2021, Walter became the longest-reigning NXT United Kingdom Champion, breaking Pete Dunne's record of 685 days.[71] On 17 March episode ofNXT, Walter would return to the NXT brand and attackedTommaso Ciampa. On 5 April, his championship reign surpassed the two-year mark. Two days later at Stand & Deliver, Walter retained his title against Ciampa.[72] A rematch between Walter and Dragunov was set up forNXT TakeOver 36, where Walter dropped the title to Dragunov, ending his reign at 870 days.[73] His 870-day reign as NXT UK Champion would be the longest championship reign in WWE history since 1988 untilRoman Reigns surpassed the record with his secondWWE Universal Championship reign in January 2023.[74]
After losing the championship, Walter was transferred to theNXT brand. He would make his in-ring debut on the 18 February 2022 episode ofNXT, defeatingRoderick Strong, after which his ring name was changed toGunther.[75][76] Controversially, his new name was supposed to be Gunther Stark, but WWE abandoned this trademark upon discovering that he would share this name with a member ofNazi Germany's naval forces.[77] Around this time, he lost around 65 lb (29.5 kg) by changing his diet and workout routine, going from over 300 lb (136 kg) to 250 lb (113 kg).[78] He started a brief feud withLA Knight in March and defeated him atNXT Stand & Deliver in April.[79] On the 5 April episode ofNXT, he lost to NXT ChampionBron Breakker in what would be his final NXT appearance.[80]
Gunther and Barthel (the latter now repackaged as Ludwig Kaiser) made their main roster debut on the 8 April episode ofSmackDown and two months later, he defeated Ricochet to win the Intercontinental Championship, making him the first Austrian to win the title.[81] He would successfully defend the title against Ricochet in a rematch[82] andShinsuke Nakamura.[83] Prior to Gunther's title defense atClash at the Castle on 3 September againstSheamus, Ludwig Kaiser announced the reformation of Imperium by reintroducing Fabian Aichner, now known as Giovanni Vinci. Gunther subsequently defeated Sheamus to retain the title.[84][85]Dave Meltzer of theWrestling Observer Newsletter rated the matchfive stars, marking Gunther's fifth overall match, his fourth match in WWE, as well as his first match as part of the main roster to receive such a rating.[86] He would beat Sheamus in a rematch on the 7 October episode ofSmackDown.[87] Gunther spent the remainder of 2022 and the early months of 2023 retaining the Intercontinental Championship againstRey Mysterio, Ricochet,Braun Strowman, andMadcap Moss in respective singles matches on variousSmackDown episodes.[88][89][90]
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, theRinggeneral has rewritten history. I am now officially the longest reigning and greatestIntercontinental Heavyweight Champion in history! ... First, I want to share some words about all of the legends who have held this great title before. You contributed absolutely nothing! I elevated this championship to heights never seen before. And as far as I understand, I'm running a little bit out of competition here; from now on, it seems like I am only competing against myself.
—Gunther, during a celebratory segment on the 11 September 2023 edition ofMonday Night Raw for becoming the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion in WWE history (Norfolk, Virginia, USA)
As part of the2023 WWE Draft, Gunther, along with his Imperium stablemates Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci, was drafted to theRawbrand.[94][95] In the coming months, Gunther successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship againstMustafa Ali atNight of Champions on 27 May,[96]Matt Riddle atMoney In The Bank on 1 July,[97] and Drew McIntyre atSummerSlam on 5 August.[98] On 21 August episode ofRaw, Gunther defended the title againstChad Gable but lost the match by countout, ending his undefeated singles streak on the main roster;[99] however, as championships do not change hands by countout or disqualification unless otherwise stipulated, Gunther remained champion.[100] After defeating Gable in a rematch on the 4 September episode ofRaw, Gunther guaranteed that he would become the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion later that week, which he did, breakingThe Honky Tonk Man's record of 454 days, which he celebrated on 11 September.[101][102] On 25 November atSurvivor Series: WarGames, Gunther successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship againstThe Miz by submission.[103]
On 20 February, Gunther's Intercontinental Championship reign set another record for the title, this time for most cumulative days as champion, surpassingPedro Morales' forty one-year record of holding the title for 619 days across two reigns.[104] At Night 1 ofWrestleMania XL on 6 April, Gunther was defeated bySami Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship, ending his record-setting reign at 666 days and making it his firstpinfall loss as part of WWE's main roster.[105]
After WrestleMania XL, Gunther participated into theKing of the Ring tournament,[106] he won the tournament after defeatingRandy Orton at theKing and Queen of the Ring event (albeit in a controversial fashion, as one of Orton's shoulders was not pinned to the mat before the count of three), thus earning aWorld Heavyweight Championship match at that year'sSummerSlam event.[107] At the event on 3 August, Gunther defeatedDamian Priest to win the title, thus becoming a world champion in WWE for the first time.[108] In a rematch from King and Queen of the Ring, Gunther would defeat Randy Orton atBash in Berlin on 31 August in his first title defense, after which he would shake hands with Orton out of respect.[109] On the 7 October episode ofRaw, he defeated Sami Zayn in a WrestleMania rematch to retain the title.[110] AtCrown Jewel on 2 November, Gunther lost toUndisputed WWE ChampionCody Rhodes in a match to determine the inauguralWWE Crown Jewel Champion, after which he would shake hands with Rhodes as a sign of respect.[111] AtSurvivor Series WarGames on 30 November, Gunther defeated Priest in a SummerSlam rematch to retain the title after interference fromFinn Bálor.[112] On 14 December atSaturday Night's Main Event, he successfully defended the title against both Priest and Bálor in a triple threat match.[113] AtSaturday Night's Main Event on 25 January, 2025, Gunther defeatedJey Uso to retain the title;[114] a week after Uso won theRoyal Rumble match atthe namesake event,[115] Uso picked Gunther to be his championship opponent atWrestleMania 41.[116] On 19 April at Night 1 of WrestleMania 41, Gunther lost the title to Uso via submission, ending his first reign at 259 days.[117]
On the 21 April episode ofRaw, Gunther attacked commentatorsMichael Cole andPat McAfee.[118] AtBacklash on 10 May, Gunther defeated McAfee, after which he gave McAfee a show of respect.[119] On the 9 June episode ofRaw, Gunther defeated Uso in a rematch via technical submission to win his second World Heavyweight Championship.[120] On the 16 June episode ofRaw, Gunther was confronted byGoldberg, leading to a match on 12 July atSaturday Night's Main Event XL being scheduled.[121] At the event, Gunther defeated Goldberg via technical submission to retain the title in the latter's retirement match.[122] On Night 1 ofSummerSlam on 2 August, Gunther lost the title toCM Punk, ending his second reign at 54 days.[123] On 4 August, WWE announced that Gunther would be out indefinitely due to multiple injuries.[124]
Hahn studied English as a child at school, but was poor at speaking it overall; he picked it up again when he became a professional wrestler and interacted with British, Irish, and American wrestlers in order to improve his speaking skills. He has been fluent in English since around 2012, when wXw expanded its roster to include more wrestlers fromEnglish-speaking countries.[129]
Hahn met English wrestlerJinny Sandhú when they competed on theindependent circuit, and they began dating while inNXT UK.[131] They married in a private ceremony in 2022,[131] and held a second ceremony with family and friends in Sandhú's home city ofLondon in April 2023.[132] Their son was born on 27 December 2023.[133] In 2025, they purchased a home inCambridge.[134]
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