Ludwig Kaiser
Updated: Wikipedia source
Marcel Barthel (born 8 July 1990) is a German professional wrestler. As of 2017, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand and in partner promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), as the masked luchador El Grande Americano. He is the current WWE Speed Champion in his first reign, and is also 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 (wXw), 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 and won the Speed Championship, but due to injury, Barthel assumed the role and reign as champion on June 30, 2025.