Ludwig Kaiser Reveals Why He And Gunther Decided To Break Up In 2024

On Hamad Firdousi’s Kennt jeder podcast, Ludwig Kaiser talked about splitting up with former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Gunther, on television. For those who don’t know, Ludwig Kaiser and Gunther, along with Giovanni Vinci and Alexander Wolfe, were part of the Imperium faction in WWE. They dominated on NXT UK and the main roster, with Gunther being the star of the faction.

Over the past few years, wrestlers like Wolfe and Vinci left the group. Only Kaiser and Gunther remained as partners, but they also broke up last year. Although it was a mutual decision, according to Ludwig Kaiser.

Ludwig Kaiser Reveals The Reason He And Gunther Decided To Break Up

Kaiser said that he wanted to step out of Gunther’s shadow in Imperium. Gunther was the leader of the faction, and Kaiser felt that no matter what he did, he would always be a tag team wrestler for the fans.

Eventually, he decided to bet on himself and talked to Gunther about splitting up and the latter agreed with him. Kaiser wanted to focus more on his solo act, so the partnership came to an end last year.

“You see, Imperium originated in wXw as Ringkampf, even though it was set up differently. We were all on the same level, but with different characters. Timothy Thatcher was the roughneck for the dirty work. I was the arrogant young boy. WALTER (Gunther) was the slaughterer to kill everyone. Imperium was a different dynamic. Gunther was the main guy and I was part of the tag team.

Gunther is insane, he unlocks something in people that only few can. You need to know your place. My job was to make his act better and not take anything away. But at some point you want more and you get to a point where you want more. But if you keep walking behind Gunther, I remain the tag team guy. We realized something needs to change, so we did.” (H/T Wrestletalk)

He understood the risks but decided to go through with it. While this probably didn’t work out the way Kaiser had expected, many fans respect his decision to bet on himself, knowing the risks.

“Of course there is a risk. But in America you need to bank on yourself and on your skills. You need to have the balls to do that. You will get that chance, you need to use it. I would say for myself I did just that.”

Ludwig Kaiser Has Been Working As El Grande Americano In WWE Now

Kaiser has not been featured on the main roster for months now, despite being a talented wrestler. On WWE television, Ludwig Kaiser last wrestled in May against Tyler Bate on Main Event. While he is currently working as El Grande Americano, it’s technically a different character. Although fans are liking his work, when Chad Gable eventually returns, the company could even do a storyline between El Grande Americano vs. El Grande Americano, which could be interesting.

Main image credit: IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire