NXT UK Champion Walter has no desire to live in the United States, comments whether he was concerned that his in-ring style wouldn’t connect with American fans

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

NXT UK Champion Walter spoke with Brian Fritz of Sporting News and was asked about why he opted to sign with WWE. “One of my most important goals in wrestling was to help wrestling in Europe grow,” Walter said. “It was always important to me because Europe has a rich history of professional wrestling, especially in Germany and Austria. At the beginning of the 2000s, the sport was gone. There was no existing scene anymore and bring it back in Germany was my big goal. My big deal is that I don’t want to live in America.

“Living in America is not for me. I enjoy my life at home and I want to stay at my base. I need my balance. At some point, WWE made it possible for me to be a part of their company but still maintain the life I had at home. When that came together, it was finally time for me to join the company. Before that, it wasn’t really possible so I stayed away from it. I think it was important for me to not jump at it right away and make the most of the experience on my own so that I could be as prepared as I could be.”

Walter was also asked if he was concerned that his in-ring style wouldn’t connect with American fans. “No, I never had those concerns,” said Walter. “I shy away from overthinking those things because I always feel like I can do my best with what I think is right for me. I want to be authentic in what I do and I don’t want to play a role or anything like that. What people see in the ring is what I really am and what I really believe. So, I just focus on going out and giving the best performance every night in the fashion that I do. I always thought that if I do that in an authentic way then the reaction will come. I tried to not think about that too much.” Read the full interview at SportingNews.com.

Powell’s POV: The buzz on Walter signing with WWE was that he was assured that he wouldn’t have to move to the United States, so the fact that he still has no desire to move from Europe is not surprising. I like the confidence he showed in expecting his style to click with American fans and he’s proven to be right. Walter also spoke about how he has changed since signing with WWE, his controversial early elimination in the Survivor Series match, his vicious chops, working in NXT UK, and more. His comments on the Survivor Series elimination are particularly interesting, as it’s rare to see a WWE wrestler be publicly critical of a booking decision.

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