NEWYou can now listen to PK Press Club articles!
Details of the arrest of Marcel Barthel, the WWE star known for his work as Ludwig Kaiser and El Grande Americano, were revealed Thursday hours after his arrest in Florida.
Barthel, 35, was arrested Wednesday on misdemeanor battery charges, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by PK Press Club Digital. He was booked into the Orange County Jail and released on $1,000, according to online records.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Marcel Barthel, known as Ludwig Kaiser, was arrested for assault and battery. (Orange County Department of Corrections)
The incident occurred in April when authorities said the alleged victim reported being attacked in an elevator at an apartment complex, FOX 35 Orlando reported, citing arrest records. The alleged victim told authorities that Barthel and a woman followed him into an elevator and “aggressively kissed” in an “intimate and uncontrollable” manner.
The alleged victim asked the couple to show “some manners” when Barthel was accused of hitting and pushing him to the ground, authorities said. An arrest warrant was then filed and Barthel turned himself in to police.
PK Press Club Digital has contacted WWE for comment.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PK Press Club
Ludwig Kaiser walks to the ring during WWE Survivor Series: War Games at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada on November 30, 2024. (WWE/Getty Images)
Barthel’s attorneys filed a motion Wednesday to allow the wrestler to travel out of the country for business purposes, according to multiple reports.
German-born Barthel joined the company in 2017 after working at 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 his release.
“Kaiser has established himself as one of the brightest prospects on the German independent wrestling scene,” his WWE profile reads. “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 magician on the mat, as well as a pragmatic competitor. With the posture of a steel post and a facial expression that rarely strays from the stern setting, Kaiser is virtually unflappable – although on the rare occasions when he loses his cool, he does not hesitate to let his opponents know by shouting “nein” in defiance. His in-ring excellence quickly led him to align himself with the imposing faction Imperium with two NXT Tag Team Championship reigns under its belt.”
He played the role of Ludwig Kaiser before his character was repackaged as El Grande Americano when Chad Gable was injured. Since Gable’s return, it has been repackaged as the Original El Grande Americano and began to rival Barthel’s El Grande Americano gimmick.
Ludwig Kaiser speaks into a microphone during WWE Friday Night SmackDown at the Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany on August 30, 2024. (WWE/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PK Press Club APP
Since then, he has performed 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.
