From being a no-nonsense competitor Ludwig Kaiser is fast showing his versatility as a performer in WWE and while his stable Imperium, helmed by dominant intercontinental champion Gunther, has been positioned as one of the top heel factions in the company currently, Kaiser is making a space for himself as well. And a testament to Kaiser’s good work is the fact that he will perform alongside his long-time tag partner Giovanni Vinci against WWE Heavyweight Champions Seth Rollins and WWE’s top draw – John Cena – on the Superstar Spectacle show in Hyderabad, India on 8th September at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium (Gachibowli Indoor Stadium) this Friday.
Kaiser, real name Marcel Barthel, had established himself as one of the German independent wrestling scene’s brightest prospects before joining the WWE in the summer of 2017 and has steadily made head turns with his wrestling and a character that’s a throwback to the bygone era of a no-frills competitor who considers ‘the mat sacred’.
However, despite being a world-travelled athlete, this will be Kaiser’s first trip to India and cannot wait to meet the Indian fan base in the country and perform. “I’ve never been to India yet, unfortunately, but I can already feel how excited everybody is,” Kaiser told News18 Sports during a select media interaction ahead of the Superstar Spectacle event. The WWE India universe is quite vocal when it comes to social media and Kaiser hopes to experience that enthusiasm first-hand come September 8th.
“One thing that I really love about the Indian fans is they’re so enthusiastic. I can totally already feel how the people are all in for this already. They can’t wait for that day. I’m going to be honest with you, I can’t wait either.
“Like I said, it’s my first time. One of the great things that we get to do in our job is just to see different countries, different people, see different cultures, try different foods, all of that stuff. It’s a very nice side effect of what we do. Again, it’s the first time for me. I cannot wait. I can’t wait to see all those exciting faces over there and step in that ring in India,” said the 33-year-old.
Kaiser is trained in amateur boxing and grappling from an early age and he was part of an influx of European wrestlers in WWE who have brought in a distinct style of pro-wrestling to the WWE alongside the likes of Gunther, Ilja Draganov and others and it has reciprocated well with the WWE Universe.
“The way I was introduced to our sport is obviously I grew up watching the WWF and watched all the big stars from back in the day there. But also there’s that different side of the sport that I got to see because the very first times I actually saw professional wrestling was when I saw my dad’s old tapes,” reminisced Kaiser talking about his exposure to pro-wrestling and his evolution as a pro-wrestler.
“Those tapes are very like you have that grainy, old, not good quality picture, and they would wrestle in gigantic tents with 4,000 or 5,000 people in there. There was much more of a rowdy football crowd, I want to say. It had a different vibe to it, just like when you go to Mexico, you have a different atmosphere and vibe.
“Same in Japan. Europe has its own style and vibe, and that is something that I grew up with. I grew up watching my dad, watching guys like Alex Wright’s father, Steve, watching Steve Regal (William Regal), watching Robbie Brookside, and Fit Finlay, all those guys were definitely heroes for me when I grew up next to Brett Hart and Razor Ramon and Mr. Perfect. So that is definitely something that is so deep in my DNA and so deep in how I look at our sport today that I can’t even ever change that”.
European Wrestling at the forefront
WWE past has a rich history of European wrestlers who were the biggest crowd-pullers and record-setters in the company none greater than the legendary Bruno Sammartino, Andre the Giant and Nikolai Volkoff. A host of British wrestlers also had a lasting legacy in WWE like William Regal, British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith, and Dynamite Kid while among the current crop Shemaus, Crew McIntyre, Becky Lynch, and Finn Balor lead the charge. However, Sammartino was in the USA and Volkoff in Canada under Stu Hart.
And this is where Kaiser, with Gunther and Cesaro before them, are different in terms of learning the ropes in Europe and then coming to the USA and giving the WWE Universe a taste of their distinct wrestling style.
“The way I look at what we do is very, very different from a lot of people over here. I think that there is a growing appreciation for the style that we go and from the European style in general. Just like you mentioned, we have a lot of European guys right now. If you look at NXT, we have Dragonov and Oro Mensah. Obviously, our group (Imperium) is entirely European. We have somebody like Finn Balor. It is definitely a fact that the appreciation for the European style and the European athletes definitely is growing,” said the two-time NXT Tag Team Champion.
Influence of Gunther and Father
Kaiser also paid tribute to the European wrestlers of the past who paved the way for guys like him. “Honestly, I got to give props and kudos to the men who paved the way over here. Definitely, William Regal, Fit Finlay, Robbie Brookside, all the European guys who came over here and represented that style that nobody else really would do over here and made it big and made people appreciate what we do. Those are the ones who really paid the way for us. I’m incredibly proud and privileged to be able to be a part of this right now because we are definitely the ones benefiting from the work all those men put in over all those years,” he added.
Apart from his father, Kaiser lists current Imperium stable mate Gunther FKA Walter, one of the major influences in his career. “Gunther and I go way back. I started my career in 2008, and he very much took me almost under his wing, apart from the fact that we always got along so great on the private base. He took me under his wing a little bit and helped me out a little bit here and there to get out there in Germany and also to get out and break out in Europe,” remembered Kaiser, adding, “Definitely on a personal level and also on a professional base, Gunther has always been somebody that I so highly respect and somebody just influenced me in so many right ways. You know what I mean? Definitely, both of them were such great influences in my professional, but also in my personal life, obviously”.
“I think Guntur talked about it one time. I’m not sure if everybody knows, but everything that we do, the whole thing with Imperial, the way we stand, the way we talk, what we talk about is very much based on what my dad used to tell me. ‘The Mat is Sacred’ is something that my dad would say whenever, I don’t know, when you would raise a glass or when we would just talk about our profession in general. My dad was so proud of what he had done in his life. And then just the profession itself to him was the absolute number one priority in his entire life. He was a professional for 33 years. He was born in 1933, so very, very difficult times back in the day. And he was such an old-school character. He spoke five languages just because he travelled the world, in this profession. He was married five times. He worked all over the world. And this is just something that he very much taught and gave to me since I was a little boy. I remember he was inducted into the European Hall of and I was seven years old.
“And back in the day, it was illegal for people under 18 years old to attend the events in Germany, and they would smuggle me in the backstage. I could see my dad going into the ring. I remember going into that locker room for the very first time with all those gigantic men. They’re also charismatic, and it was just different from anything I’ve ever seen before. This is very much why I fell in love with this. I can’t even begin how much of an impact my dad had on all of us, on Gunther, on Gio (Giovanni Vinci) and myself. Everything we do, everything we say right now goes back to what my dad taught me in some ways. I can’t even begin to tell you how much of an impact he had on all of us,” Kaiser signed off.
Watch the LIVE coverage of WWE RAW every Tuesday on Sony Sports Ten 1, Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi) & Sony Sports Ten 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels at 5.30 am IST. Sony Sports Network is the official broadcaster of WWE in India.
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