Ludwig Kaiser

Marcel Barthel (born 8 July 1990), better known by his ring name Ludwig Kaiser, 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 second incarnation of the masked luchador El Grande Americano. He 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, 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.