10 Wrestlers Who Broke Dave Meltzer's Rating System In 2017
7. WALTER
It was about time Big Dave gave some love to the German wrestling scene. One of 2017's breakout stars, WALTER turned many heads this year, including Meltzer's. He earned a 5-star rating with his PWG match against Zack Sabre Jr. at All-Star Weekend.
Currently Progress' Atlas Champion, WALTER is pretty self-explanatory: he is big, mean, and German. Except, unlike failed WWF experiment Brakkus, WALTER isn't the pits. In fact, he's an elite big, sweaty man who has spent 2017 expanding his profile beyond German promotion xWx.
At Battle of Los Angeles, he made his PWG debut in an acclaimed match against Keith Lee, and was considered the breakout star of the weekend. He made his return to Reseda in October to face off against former champion Zack Sabre Jr. With his strength, power, and wrestling acumen, the 30-year-old ubermensch became the first man from Deutschland to earn a 5 star rating, and brought new attention to German independent wrestling.
With more dates in PWG and Progress on the horizon, don't be surprised if 2018 is WALTER's year.