Have you wondered why Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser split?
The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion and Kaiser were a notable act in NXT and throughout Gunther’s first world title run. But in late 2024, Kaiser started being showcased outside of Imperium and he had memorable matches against Sheamus and Bron Breakker. The 35-year-old even challenged for the Intercontinental title.
Kaiser came out on the losing end, but he showcased just how talented he was. The WWE star wanted to carve his own path and it became notable this past year that Kaiser wasn’t accompanying Gunther to the ring anymore. The group quietly disbanded because Ludwig realized that something needed to change.
“I think I have never said this in public, but it was Gunther’s and my idea." Kaiser said on the Kennt jeder podcast with Hamad Firdousi (via Wrestletalk).
“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.
“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.”
Gunther is currently out due to injury. And Kaiser has simply vanished from television. There are rumors that Kaiser is El Grande Americano, but WWE wouldn’t give a lucha libre act to a German guy, right?
The only one who didn’t really get the opportunity to shine as a solo act was Giovanni Vinci. They had Kaiser attack the former Imperium stablemate and nothing ever came out of that. WWE repackaged Vinci and he went to the Smackdown brand, but his claim to fame there was losing a three second match to former Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews. Vinci was eventually released back in February.