Imperium (professional wrestling)

Imperium is a professional wrestling stable performing in WWE's NXT and NXT UK brands, consisting of leader Walter and Marcel Barthel, Fabian Aichner and Alexander Wolfe, with Barthel and Aichner being the current NXT Tag Team Champions and Walter being the current NXT United Kingdom Champion, all in their first reign.

Imperium
Stable
MembersWalter
Alexander Wolfe
Fabian Aichner
Marcel Barthel
Name(s)Imperium
Ringkampf
Combined
billed weight		995 lb (451 kg)
Former
member(s)		Timothy Thatcher
Christian Michael Jakobi
DebutSeptember 10, 2016
Years active2016–present

The stable was formed in the German promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling as Ringkampf, consisting in Walter, Barthel (then known as Axel Dieter Jr.), Timothy Thatcher, and Christian Michael Jakobi and, during the following years, worked on several European promotions.

In 2019, Walter and Barthel signed with the WWE, having being assigned to the NXT UK brand and were paired with Aichner and Wolfe; the stable started to use the name Imperium, a new version of Ringkampf using the motto "The ring is sacred". During the stable's time in WWE, Walter became NXT United Kingdom Champion, while Barthel and Aichner became NXT Tag Team Champions.

History

Westside Xtreme Wrestling (2016-present)

The group debuted on 27 August 2016 as a tag team when Walter and Timothy Thatcher competed against A4 (Absolute Andy and Marius Al-Ani) in wXw's World Tag Team League 2016 Qualifying in which they lost.[1][2] The stable's first match occurred on 23 September 2016 when Axel Dieter Jr. teamed up with Walter and Thatcher defeated Da Mack, Francis Kaspin & John Klinger in a tag team match at the wXw Shotgun Live Tour in Ludwigshafen.[1] Walter and Thatcher defeated Massive Product (David Starr and Jurn Simmons) to win the wXw World Tag Team Championship in the finals of the 2017 wXw World Tag Team League on 8 October 2017.[3] On 11 March Walter and Thatcher lost the wXw Tag Titles to Da Mack and John Klinger.[4]

Progress Wrestling (2017-present)

At Chapter 47, Ringkampf (Walter, Dieter and Thatcher) challenged British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) for all of their championships, in a six-man tag team match, unsuccessfully challenging all of them.[5][6] Walter defeated Matt Riddle to win the Progress Atlas Championship at Chapter 51: Screaming For Progress at the O2 Academy Birmingham.[7] He lost the title to Riddle a little over a month later on a Progress card in New York City.,[8] but recaptured it at Chapter 55: Chase The Sun at Alexandra Palace in a Three Way match that also involved Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher.[9] At Chapter 68: Super Strong Style 16 Tournament Edition 2018, Walter vacated the Atlas title in order to chase the PROGRESS world title, held by Travis Banks. At Chapter 74: Mid Week Matters, he defeated Banks to win the title.

WWE (2019-present)

NXT UK (2019-present)

On the 22 May 2019 episode of NXT UK, Walter won a rematch for the United Kingdom Championship against Dunne, after interference by the European Union (Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel), thus establishing himself as a heel[10] and reuniting Ringkampf under the new name Imperium.[11] The faction would later be joined by Alexander Wolfe, after he interfered in a match pitting Imperium against British Strong Style (the team of Dunne, Bate, and Seven). On the June 26 episode of NXT UK, Walter retained his title against Travis Banks. On the July 3 episode of NXT UK, Imperium interfered in Moustache Mountain's title match against Grizzled Young Veterans therefore making Grizzled Young Veterans retain their titles. After the match, they injured Tyler Bate. On August 31 at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff, Walter retained his title against Tyler Bate. The match was highly acclaimed, earning a 5.25 star rating from Dave Meltzer, making it the third match in WWE history to break the 5 star rating system.[12]

In the build-up for the NXT UK and NXT co-branded pay-per-view, Worlds Collide, Imperium began feuding with The Undisputed Era (NXT Champion Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, and NXT Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly), which was further intensified during the closing moments of NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II on January 12, 2020, when the group attacked Imperium following Walter's successful title defense against Joe Coffey.[13][14] During Walter's reign the following week, the WWE United Kingdom Championship was renamed to NXT United Kingdom Championship and he was presented with a slightly updated belt design, replacing the WWE logo at the center with the NXT UK logo.[15] On May 13, 2020, Barthel and Aichner defeated Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher (a substitute for Pete Dunne) to win the NXT Tag team Championship after Thatcher walked out on Riddle.[16] The duo retained with success the titles against Fandango and Tyler Breeze.

Members

Current
* Founding member
Member Joined Notes
Walter August 27, 2016 Leader
Marcel Barthel September 23, 2016 Known as Axel Dieter Jr. from 2016-2019
Fabian Aichner May 23, 2019
Alexander Wolfe June 12, 2019

Former members
Member Joined Left
Timothy Thatcher * August 27, 2016 December 22, 2018
Christian Michael Jakobi August 4, 2016 December 22, 2018

Championships and accomplishments

Notes
  1. Walter won the title as the WWE United Kingdom Championship, but during his reign in January 2020, it was renamed to NXT United Kindgom Championship.
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References
  1. https://www.cagematch.net/?id=28&nr=8075&page=2
  2. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/bios/w/walter/
  3. "wXw World Tag Team League 2017 Night 3". Westside Xtreme Wrestling (in German). Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  4. Staff, F4W. "WXW 16 CARAT GOLD NIGHT TWO RESULTS: WORLD TITLE MATCH SURPRISE". F4wonline. Wrestling Observer Newslleter.
  5. Boon, Alan (27 April 2017). "The Week In British Wrestling: The reign of BSS continues". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  6. Bentley, Martin (24 April 2017). "Tyler Bate, Mark Andrews, Pete Dunne, Timothy Thatcher & more: 4/23 Progress Wrestling Chapter 47: Complicated Simplicity report". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  7. "7/9 Progress Chapter 51 "Screaming For Progress" results: Gutteridge's report on "British Strong Style" Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven vs. CCK, Matt Riddle vs. Walter for the Atlas Title, War Machine vs. London Riots, and Jimmy Havoc vs. Jigsaw". Prowrestling.net.
  8. "Progress-Evolve NYC results: Matt Riddle, Keith Lee, TK Cooper injured". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  9. Staff, F4W. "PROGRESS CHAPTER 55 RESULTS: PETE DUNNE VS. TRAVIS BANKS". F4Wonline. Wrestling Newsletter Observer.
  10. "WWE NXT UK: May 22, 2019". WWE. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  11. "New NXT UK Faction Debuts Featuring WWE Main Roster Star". WhatCulture. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  12. "Best NXT Matches of 2019 According to Star Ratings - Page 5 of 5". 21 February 2019.
  13. https://www.f4wonline.com/nxt-news/undisputed-era-appear-nxt-uk-takeover-blackpool-ii-301501
  14. https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/undisputed-era-crashes-nxt-uk-takeover-blackpool-ii-attacks-imperium
  16. https://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=136393
  17. "7/9 Progress Chapter 51 "Screaming For Progress" results: Gutteridge's report on "British Strong Style" Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven vs. CCK, Matt Riddle vs. Walter for the Atlas Title, War Machine vs. London Riots, and Jimmy Havoc vs. Jigsaw - Pro Wrestling Dot Net". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. 9 July 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  18. "PROGRESS Chapter 55 results: Pete Dunne vs. Travis Banks". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  19. "PWTorch.com - SHOW RESULTS - 4/26 WXW in Oberhausen, Germany: Terry Funk, John Morrison, D.H. Smith, Corino, Masters, more". www.pwtorch.com.
  20. "wXw World Tag Team League 2017 Night 3". wXw - more than Wrestling (in German). Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  21. "United Kingdom Championship". WWE. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  22. "NXT Tag Team Championship". May 13, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  23. Stoughton, Derek (22 March 2019). "2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards Revealed". Wrestling Rumors. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  24. "BONUS SHOW: Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards". Post Wrestling. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  25. Meltzer, Dave (March 5, 2020). "March 13, 2020 Observer Newsletter: 40th Annual Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
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