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WWE star Marcel Barthel, who goes by the names Ludwig Kaiser and El Grande Americano, was arrested in Florida this week.
Barthel, 35, was arrested on a battery charge Wednesday, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Pakinomist Digital.
He was reportedly booked into the Orange County Jail before being released on $1,000 bail, the New York Post reported.
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Ludwig Kaiser speaks into a microphone during WWE Friday Night SmackDown at Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany on August 30, 2024. (WWE/Getty Images)
The wrestler was allegedly involved in an altercation with another man before he was arrested, Fightful reported.
Pakinomist Digital reached out to WWE for comment.
Barthel’s attorneys filed a motion Wednesday to allow the wrestler to travel outside the country with fork work, according to multiple reports. He flew back to Florida to turn himself in.
Born in Germany, Barthel joined the company in 2017 after stints in Westside Xtreme Wrestling and Progress Wrestling. He was part of the Imperium faction with Gunther as leader and Fabian Aichner, who was later renamed Giovanni Vinci before being released.
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Ludwig Kaiser makes his way to the ring during WWE Survivor Series: War Games at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada on November 30, 2024. (WWE/Getty Images)
“Kaiser established himself as one of the German independent wrestling scene’s brightest prospects,” read his WWE profile. “He joined the WWE Performance Center in the summer of 2017 and made his WWE Network debut a year later on NXT.
“Kaiser has since proven himself to be a true mat magician, as well as a no-nonsense competitor. With the attitude of a steel bar and a facial expression that rarely deviates from the attitude of the hedge, Kaiser is practically unbending – although on rare occasions he loses his cool, he is quick to let his opponents know, in their face to scream, that he will soon scream. in line with the impressive Imperium faction with two NXT Tag Team Championship tournaments under his belt.”
He appeared as Ludwig Kaiser before his character was repackaged as El Grande Americano when Chad Gable was injured. Since Gable returned, he was repackaged as the original El Grande Americano and began feuding with Barthel’s El Grande Americano gimmick.
El Grande Americano will face El Grande Americano at WWE’s Royal Rumble at the Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on January 31, 2026. (Joe Maher/WWE)
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Since then, he has appeared at Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. El Grande Americano and Original El Grande Americano are set to end their heated rivalry with a mask vs. mask match at Noche de Los Grandes on May 30.
