"WALTER will be just fine" – WWE producer reacts to The Ring General's name change
WWE Superstar and backstage producer Shane “The Hurricane” Helms gave his opinion on Vince McMahon changing WALTER's name. The former WCW star pointed out that when he made his debut, pretty much his entire gimmick was changed.
The end of NXT 2.0 this week saw WALTER announcing a new name for himself. The Ring General announced himself as Gunther after defeating Roderick Strong in the main event.
While the name change drew a lot of flak from fans and critics, Shane Helms thinks Gunther is going to be "just fine" despite the name change.
The Hurricane pointed to his debut, where he lost his WCW Cruiserweight Championship to Billy Kidman. He said his name changed from Shane Helms to “Hollywood” Gregory Helms, and he lost his entrance song and finisher:
🏻In my WWE TV debut, I lost:
-My name
-My gimmick
-My entrance
-My entrance song
-My finisher
-And my WCW Cruiserweight Championship. ALL IN ONE NIGHT.
If I survived that, Walter will be just fine. 👍🏻👍🏻
WALTER's name change was confirmed on WWE.com
The Ring General's name change was made official by WWE on their website last night.
Walter's name change is confirmed from today he will be called Gunther
#WWE #WWENXT https://t.co/sIIafvHILH
On January 13, WWE filed a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the name Gunther Stark. However, the last name wasn't mentioned by the former NXT UK Champion. Gunther Stark was the name of a Nazi Germany military commander during World War II. The Austrian's new in-ring will be just Gunther.
Gunther made the move to NXT 2.0 from NXT UK earlier this month and teamed up with his Imperium stablemates to face MSK & Riddle at NXT New Year’s Evil.
The Human Chop Machine defeated Roderick Strong in a singles match on this week’s NXT 2.0. The show ended with Imperium (Gunther, NXT Tag Team Champions Marcel Barthel, and Fabian Aichner) brawling with Diamond Mine (Strong, The Creed Brothers).
What are your thoughts on Hurricane Helms' statement? Sound off in the comments!