Ludwig Kaiser
Marcel Barthel is a German professional wrestler., he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand and in partner promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, as the masked luchador El Grande Americano. He is the leader of the Los Americanos stable.
Barthel previously wrestled under the ring name Axel Dieter Jr. in Germany, most notably for Westside Xtreme Wrestling, where he became a two-time World Tag Team Champion and one-time Unified World Wrestling Champion. He also wrestled in the UK for Progress Wrestling. He signed with WWE in 2017 and was assigned to NXT under his real name, Marcel Barthel, joining the Imperium stable where he won the NXT Tag Team Championship twice with Fabian Aichner. Imperium was moved to the main roster on SmackDown in 2022 where Barthel was renamed as Ludwig Kaiser, and then moved to Raw in 2023. From early 2025, Chad Gable had originally portrayed El Grande Americano, but due to injury, Barthel assumed the role on June 30, 2025. As Americano, Barthel is a former one-time WWE Speed Champion, a reign he had inherited when he took over the role from Gable.
Early life
Marcel Barthel was born 8 July 1990 in Pinneberg, Schleswig-Holstein which was then part of West Germany prior to reunification two months later. He is a second-generation professional wrestler; his father, Axel Dieter, was later at ringside for his championship win in Westside Xtreme Wrestling when he became one-half of the wXw World Tag Team Champions. His father was also a child soldier during World War II, fighting first for Nazi Germany before defecting to France, all before he was 12 years old. He later joined the French Foreign Legion.Professional wrestling career
Westside Xtreme Wrestling (2008–2019, 2024)
Barthel was trained by his father Axel Dieter, Christian Eckstei, and Karsten Kretschmer. He debuted under the ring name Axel Dieter Jr. at NFC New Years Fight Night II on 1 March 2008, wrestling Da Mack to a time limit draw. He made his debut for Westside Xtreme Wrestling in January 2009, losing to Dan Marshall. He did not have his next match in wXw until July 2012, when he and Da Mack defeated Walter and Michael Isotov. Dieter and Da Mack would go on to form a regular team, dubbing themselves Hot & Spicy. On 16 November 2013, they defeated The AUTsiders to win the wXw World Tag Team Championship. Dieter and Da Mack made seven successful defences of the championship, defeating the likes of The Sumerian Death Squad, Forever Hooligans, and Kazuki Hashimoto and Ryuichi Kawakami. They lost the championships to Matt Striker and Trent? on 15 March 2014, but won them back in a rematch the following day. On 6 April, Dieter received his first opportunity at the wXw Shotgun Championship, losing to Axel Tischer. After over a combined year as wXw World Tag Team Champions, Dieter and Da Mack were defeated by French Flavour on 18 October, bringing their reign to an end.On 22 November 2014, Dieter unsuccessfully challenged Walter for the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship. In February 2015, he took part in the Four Nations Cup, defeating Timothy Thatcher in the final to win the tournament. In March, Dieter took part in the 16 Carat Gold Tournament, defeating Zack Sabre Jr. in the semi-final to advance to the final, where he lost to Tommy End. In October, after a short break, Hot & Spicy teamed together once again and made it to the semi-finals of the 2015 World Tag Team Tournament before losing to reDRagon. In March 2016, Dieter once again took part in the 16 Carat Gold Tournament, defeating Drew Galloway in the semi-final to advance to the final, where he lost to Sabre, the man he defeated to advance to the final in the previous year's tournament. On 2 September, Dieter and Da Mack faced off against each other, with Da Mack coming out on top and retaining his wXw Shotgun Championship. In late 2016, Dieter joined Ringkampf, and on 10 December, he defeated Marty Scurll to win the wXw Unified World Wrestling Title. Dieter held the championship until March 2017, when he was defeated by Jurn Simmons. In April, Dieter announced that he would be leaving wXw to pursue further opportunities outside of Germany. On 30 April, wXw held a farewell show for him, titled Die Matte Ist Heilig: Farewell to Axel Dieter Junior. In his final match as a full-time member of wXw, he teamed with Ringkampf stablemate Walter to defeat his long-time partner Da Mack and his long-time rival Simmons.
Due to wXw's working relationship with WWE, Barthel was able to make occasional appearances for the promotion. At the 17th Anniversary Show, in an untelevised segment, Barthel and Alexander Wolfe saved Walter and Thatcher after they were ambushed by members of the Rise stable. On 30 October 2018, it was confirmed that Barthel, under the Axel Dieter Jr. name, would return to wXw as a part of their 18th Anniversary Show on 22 December. At the event, he teamed with Walter and Thatcher to defeat British Strong Style. In March 2019, he participated in the 16 Carat Gold Tournament, defeating Marius Al-Ani in the first round, before being eliminated by Lucky Kid in the quarter final. On the third night, he reunited with Da Mack, where they defeated Jay FK.
On 23 November 2024, at Broken Rykes, Barthel returned to wXw for the first time since 2019.
Progress Wrestling (2017–2018)
Representing wXw and Ringkampf, Dieter made his debut for Progress Wrestling in the UK on 15 January 2017, alongside Walter, defeating The London Riots. They returned to the promotion on 29 January, losing to The South Pacific Power Trip. They once again returned on 19 March, defeating The Hunter Brothers. In his first singles match, Dieter lost to Mark Haskins. On 23 April, Dieter, Walter, and Timothy Thatcher unsuccessfully challenged British Strong Style in a six-man tag team match for all of British Strong Style's championships.On 30 December 2018, Barthel made a surprise appearance at Progress' Unboxing event, where he was defeated by Eddie Dennis.
WWE
Imperium (2017–2025)
On 30 June 2017, Barthel signed with WWE and was assigned to WWE's developmental territory NXT. He made multiple appearances at the NXT live events before making his television debut under his real name on 8 August 2018 episode of NXT, where he lost to Keith Lee. Barthel then formed a tag team with Fabian Aichner, with whom he would compete on both the NXT and NXT UK brands.On 22 May 2019 episode of NXT UK, Barthel and Aichner helped Walter retain the United Kingdom Championship, forming the stable Imperium. On 13 May 2020 episode of NXT, Barthel and Aichner defeated Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher to win the NXT Tag Team Championship. After successful title defenses against teams like Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, and The Undisputed Era, Imperium lost the titles on 26 August episode of NXT to Breezango, ending their reign at 105 days. On 26 October 2021, at NXT: Halloween Havoc, Barthel and Aichner defeated MSK in a lumberjack tag team match to win the NXT Tag Team Championship for the second time. On 5 December at NXT WarGames, they successfully defended the titles against Kyle O'Reilly and Von Wagner. On 2 April 2022 at NXT Stand & Deliver, they lost the titles back to MSK in a triple threat tag team match also involving The Creed Brothers, ending their reign at 158 days. On the April 5 episode of NXT, Barthel and Aichner faced The Creed Brothers in a losing effort, with Aichner walking out of their match.
On the April 8 episode of SmackDown, Barthel debuted under the new ring name Ludwig Kaiser, accompanying his Imperium stablemate Walter in a squash match against Joe Alonzo. His new surname came from Gustl Kaiser, a wrestling promoter during the time when his father was active as a professional wrestler. On the May 27 episode of SmackDown, Kaiser had his first match on the main roster, teaming with Gunther to defeat Drew Gulak and Intercontinental Champion Ricochet. A feud with The Brawling Brutes ensued for several months, which also included the return of Aichner to Imperium and resulted in two Intercontinental Champion matches between Gunther and Sheamus. As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Kaiser and his Imperium stablemates Gunther and Vinci were drafted to the Raw brand. On 23 April 2024 episode of Raw, Kaiser attacked Vinci and kicked him out of Imperium after they lost to The New Day.
On 30 August episode of SmackDown in Berlin, Kaiser answered LA Knight's open challenge for the United States Championship, but lost. At Survivor Series on 30 November, he lost a triple threat match for the Intercontinental Championship against Sheamus and Intercontinental Champion Bron Breakker. On 1 February 2025, at Royal Rumble, Kaiser entered the eponymous match at #13, but was eliminated by Penta in six seconds. On 24 February 2025 episode of Raw, Kaiser won a triple threat match against Penta and Pete Dunne. On the 17 March episode of Raw, Kaiser lost a no holds barred match against Penta. After this match, Kaiser did not appear on Raw for over three months and Imperium quietly disbanded.