WALTER On Why He Won’t Move to America, His Match With Pete Dunne at Takeover: New York, More

– WALTER spoke with talkSPORT for a new interview discussing his work in NXT UK, why he doesn’t want to move to America and more. Highlights are below:

On the fan reaction to his NXT UK Takeover Blackpool debut: “Wherever I went in my career, fan reactions or whatever, it’s not important. It’s important for me to stay true to who I am and do things the way I believe in. If it works out, it works out. If it doesn’t, it does not. Luckily, it has worked out most places. It was the same in Blackpool. The reaction was very positive and I was happy about that. But at the end of it, before I went out, it wasn’t my main concern.”

On his journey in wrestling: “I’ve had a very different path. The difference is, England have always had some type of scene, we didn’t have that in Austria and later Germany when I moved there. We had to create our own market. You look at Tyler [Bate] – he’s just 22-years-old. I’m 32. When I was 22, I wasn’t even close to being able to do the things that he can do now, or even put on a proper wrestling match. My training was alright because I had an experienced trainer, but I think in the year after my first match I had seven or eight matches while right now, you’re able to do that in a month. So that says a lot about that. Only when it started to work out in Germany did I get the opportunities to go to England and then America.”

On working with Triple H: “Oh yeah, they did [make me feel wanted], I can’t deny that. But, my conversations with Triple H have been very little so far, actually. We had a conversation when I started, but in between not much. That was really it, I’m not really a small talk guy. I don’t talk to people unless I have something worth talking about or reasoning behind it. I’ve worked a little more with Shawn Michaels which is very helpful. Obviously, he’s a very experienced guy and he’s been very successful in his career. Actually, I think people often think with wrestling, the things that make the difference are major changes, but it’s the very smallest of details that make a very big difference. Those people – like William Regal – they all have those little tricks in their back pocket. So it’s a very good environment to be in.”

On whose idea Imperium was as a stable: “We wanted to do it as a group, for sure. Alexander Wolfe and Marcel Barthel, they started out like me and I’ve known them for over 10 years now. They started out as part of the process I was talking about earlier and it was like ‘we’ve got to do something in Germany’. We worked on the roster of WXW as a team and then we all went our separate ways and now this was the chance to bring it back and we really wanted to do it because we all think the same way about how this sport should be done. Like how we should represent ourselves and move forward so it was like yep, let’s make it happen.”

On his WWE run to date: “Everything has been fine so far. Before I got here, I was an independent wrestler in Europe and America and you’re really on your own. You travel yourself, show up, get changed, do your thing and then leave. Here, you’re working for a proper company. You’re part of a project and you’re part of a collective goal that you’re working towards. And that’s something I always liked in my real-job life before, I was always someone that liked to take responsibility for things and step forward. So far, it’s been very good and a very good working atmosphere also. I do better because I’m home more, can focus more on my matches, so it’s been good all around.”

On his match with Pete Dunne at NXT TakeOver: New York: “I’m not really a ‘career moment’ guy, I never sit at home and think ‘what has been my biggest moment?’ – I must pick one! Sure, it was a highlight. It was ‘Mania week, and it was a TakeOver, of course. But, the match itself, I wanted it to be different. But that’s what I to do in every aspect of wrestling. When somebody does this, I want to do that and go the other way. That’s something that’s always important to me, I don’t want to swim with everyone. I want to do my thing and how I believe in it, and I think Pete [Dunne] had a similar idea for that show on TakeOver in New York. We wanted it to be that competitive European match and I think it did the job. People liking it at the end was a good add-on, but if they wouldn’t of liked it, I wouldn’t have minded it either. Because what we did was European professional wrestling in this day and age.”

On a potential match with Cesaro in NXT UK: “Cesaro is interesting. He started at the place I did in Germany – WXW – but he left for America before I started there. So there would be good background to that. Besides that, I’ve gotten to know him, he’s a great guy and one of the finest professional wrestlers in the company. So if it ever encounters where we could get together i2n the ring, yeah, I would really like to do that.”

On a potential move to the main roster: “I would go on the main roster at some point but I wouldn’t move to America. Moving to America is not for me. American lifestyle is not for me. No, I couldn’t imagine that. When it comes to that, I stay where I am. But, I am able to get on an airplane! [laughs].”