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WWE star Marcel Barthel, who performs under the names Ludwig Kaiser and The Great American, was arrested in Florida this week.
Barthel, 35, was arrested on misdemeanor battery charges on Wednesday, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Pak Gazette 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 fighter was allegedly involved in an altercation with another man before being arrested, Fightful reported.
Pak Gazette Digital has reached out to WWE for comment.
Barthel’s attorneys filed a motion Wednesday to allow the wrestler to travel out of the country for work reasons, according to multiple reports. He flew back to Florida to turn himself in.
Barthel, who was born in Germany, joined the company in 2017 after time 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 enters 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 brightest prospects on the German independent wrestling scene,” his WWE profile read. “He joined the WWE Performance Center in the summer of 2017 and made his WWE Network debut a year later on NXT.
“Since then, Kaiser has proven himself to be a true magician of the mat, as well as a no-nonsense competitor. With the stance of a steel pole and a facial expression that rarely deviates from stern posture, Kaiser is virtually unflappable, although on the rare occasions when he loses his cool, he quickly lets his opponents know by defiantly shouting ‘nein’ in their faces. His excellence in the ring soon led him to align himself with the imposing Imperium faction with two The Championship in NXT couples reign under their belt.”
He starred as Ludwig Kaiser before his character was repackaged as The Great American when Chad Gable was injured. Since Gable returned, he was repackaged as The Original Great American and began feuding with Barthel’s Great American gimmick.
The Great American faces The Great American during the WWE 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 performed in Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. El Grande Americano and El Grande Americano Original are set to end their heated rivalry with a mask vs. mask match at Night of the Greats on May 30.
