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WALTER debuted in January 2019 back at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool. He had made a major name for himself outside of WWE until his arrival. The Ring General immediately became a force on the NXT UK brand and earned himself a spot at the top of the card.
At NXT TakeOver: New York, WALTER won the NXT UK Championship. It is safe to say that no one could have expected how dominant his reign would be. For the next 870 days, the Imperium leader ran roughshod over his brand and the North American side of NXT. During his reign, he put together an exceptional catalog of epic encounters.
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With his loss of the NXT UK Championship at NXT TakeOver 36, it seems like a great time to remember all of the classics that he has compiled over the past two years. In this article, let's look back at the top five best WALTER matches in NXT.
#5 WALTER vs. Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT UK Championship (NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver)
WALTER's TakeOver clashes are always a match of the night contender. He usually steals the show with his bruising clashes. His matches in the premier event have been with fellow NXT UK roster members. However, he faced an NXT stalwart in Tommaso Ciampa at NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver. The Ring General started going after Ciampa, and his tag team partner Timothy Thatcher mixed it up with Imperium.
In the months leading up to the showdown, Ciampa had seen his stock fall. Despite being one of the greatest NXT Champion of all time, he felt stale and couldn't capture the magic of his character at its peak back in 2018. This night was different, however.
WALTER and Ciampa tore the house down in a hard-hitting clash. For one night, the old Tommaso Ciampa felt rejuvenated against WALTER. He showed off babyface fire and made a wildly spirited comeback. The story was built around Ciampa attacking WALTER's hand until his vintage chops finally got the NXT UK Champion the win.
It was a masterful tale that had compelling storytelling. WALTER probably has never sold as well as he did in this bout. It was an excellent encounter that was physically intense and built nicely. WALTER is a world-beater, but he can sell exceptionally well and showed how versatile he could be at TakeOver: Stand and Deliver.
#4 WALTER vs. Pete Dunne for the WWE United Kingdom Championship (NXT TakeOver: New York)
Upon WALTER's WWE debut, he immediately confronted the WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool. This set up a showdown between the two men scheduled to go down during WrestleMania 35 weekend in New York at TakeOver: New York.
This bout was one of the biggest in NXT UK history and was highly anticipated. In this one, Pete Dunne brought it all up, using his technical wrestling ability and joint manipulation to break down the larger opponent. However, WALTER was a different type of competitor than anyone Dunne had faced before him.
WALTER used his power and lethal chops to wear down Dunne. He hit shotgun dropkicks, German suplexes, and sleeper suplexes to decimate the champion completely. This was his first high-profile encounter in WWE on the big stage of WrestleMania 35 weekend, and he didn't disappoint. It was a grueling war that WALTER won with a super powerbomb and top rope splash to win the gold.
It was an excellent battle that stood out on one of the most extraordinary NXT TakeOver events in history. The two men brought raw, hard-hitting violence and paced things superbly. WALTER was the right man to end the 685-day United Kingdom Championship reign. It ended in a remarkable encounter that set the tone for an even longer and more epic title reign.
#3 WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT UK Championship (NXT UK October 29th, 2020)
WALTER held the gold throughout the global pandemic with just a brief stint on the North American side of the black and gold brand. His first challenger following more than a year off was Ilja Dragunov.
The 27-year-old Russian defeated 19 other men in a battle royal to earn the opportunity and was seen by many to be the most likely successor to the dominant reign of WALTER. Due to the pandemic, he had to wait for six long months for his chance at the gold. That built a great deal of hype and expectation for what the two men would finally deliver in their encounter.
WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov was beautifully violent in every way possible. The NXT UK Champion brutalized Dragunov with wince-inducing strikes and lethal chops. The empty arena aesthetic added gravitas to the action and made every chop that much cringe-worthy. WALTER bloodied Dragunov, but Ilja kept fighting and wouldn't relent from his quest to pyre away the title.
WALTER hit his massive top rope splash, but Dragunov kicked out. He then followed up with ground and pound, trying to beat the fight out of Ilja. WALTER then locked in a rear-naked choke, and the referee stopped the match after Dragunov was unresponsive.
Fans, wrestlers, and critics describe their encounter as the most physical matchup in WWE history. The level of violence was unreal and truly set a new standard for the entire NXT UK brand. It was WWE's Match of the Year for 2020 and helped elevate the title reign of WALTER while putting Dragunov's name on the map.
#2 WALTER vs. Tyler Bate for the NXT UK Championship (NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff)
Before WALTER's introduction, the pillars of NXT UK were British Strong Style. Pete Dunne, Trent Seven, and Tyler Bate held the entire United Kingdom on their backs and helped to elevate the performers around them.
WALTER coming in and taking the NXT UK Championship off Pete Dunne created a natural feud between British Strong Style and Imperium. WALTER's group with Fabian Aichner, Martel Barthel and Alexander Wolfe put British Strong Style's status as the top faction in question. WALTER injured Bate in a tag team contest followed by taking out Dunne and Seven.
Upon Tyler Bate's return, it set up a showdown with WALTER for the NXT UK Championship at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff. In front of a raucous crowd, the two men tore it up in an ultimate David vs. Goliath clash. WALTER was the perfect monster beating down his smaller opponent, while Bate put on a masterfully resilient babyface performance and rallied the fans around his quest.
Bate had fantastic odes to his British Strong Style stablemates in trying to dethrone WALTER. The work in this bout was spectacular, building on the drama and culminating in an emotional closing stretch. WALTER gave Bate a vicious powerbomb that he kicked out of at one to an enormous pop. He then hit Bate with chops and a lariat to finally beat him. This was indeed a TakeOver classic.
#1 WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT UK Championship (NXT TakeOver 36)
The most recent WALTER match in NXT may be his greatest. The big-time rematch between WALTER and Ilja Dragunov was ten months in the making following their epic encounter last year. Dragunov went through a crisis of confidence that led to metamorphosis to find a new edge in himself and overcome the mental beating he took following his dramatic loss.
Ilja Dragunov eventually went back up the ladder and defeated Joe Coffey and Rampage Brown to become the Number One Contender. It looked like he would get his long-awaited title shot in July, but WALTER's hand injury delayed it and eventually postponed it until a bigger stage at NXT TakeOver 36.
The buildup was so well done and paced on the NXT UK brand, but Ilja Dragunov's brief stint on the North American side of NXT led to Pete Dunne beating him ahead of the show. Despite the setback, the hype behind this bout was at an all-time high, and boy did they deliver.
WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov II started slowly with a feeling-out process that featured mat wrestling, submission attempts, and a strike exchange. WALTER took control with a powerbomb on the apron. He started laying in vicious chops to the chest and back of Dragunov. WALTER also hit some sick German and sleeper suplexes that couldn't keep the challenger down.
No matter how many brutal blows or sickening moves WALTER threw at Dragunov, he kept fighting. With his chest looking like raw meat, Ilja continued to withstand the assault of the NXT UK Champion. He hit two Torpedo Moscows for only a two count. WALTER hit all his greatest hits, from a big splash to a powerful lariat to the running chop, but Dragunov kept kicking out.
Ilja Dragunov ended the 870-day reign of WALTER in one of the greatest TakeOver matches of all time. Ilja pounced on WALTER with ground and pound strikes. Dragunov then followed with a sleeper that he wouldn't let go of. He finally made WALTER tap to become the NXT UK Champion.
This was a total slugfest with the two men just beating the crap out of each other for well over 22 minutes. It was dramatic, full of hate and beautiful violence. WALTER and Dragunov took what they had in the first encounter and escalated it in front of a hot crowd at NXT TakeOver 36. This has to be considered WALTER's best NXT match of his career so far.
