Ludwig Kaiser Explains Why He and Gunther Chose to End Their WWE Partnership – Ludwig Kaiser has opened up about the quiet breakup of his long-running partnership with Gunther, revealing that the decision to go their separate ways was a mutual choice. The two had been aligned for years, first as members of the European faction Ringkampf and later as part of WWE’s Imperium, but they stopped appearing together on WWE television late last year without an official on-screen split.
In a recent interview with Kennt jeder, Kaiser explained that both he and Gunther agreed it was time for a change. “I don’t think I’ve ever said this anywhere but that was also wanted by me and also by Gunther,” Kaiser said (translated from German). He noted that while the group’s origins in Germany’s wXw as Ringkampf were based on a more balanced structure, WWE’s presentation of Imperium created a different dynamic.
“Imperium actually originally comes from wXw, back then it was Ringkampf. And that was structured differently. I would say everyone was more on the same level, because everyone had different roles. Back then, it was with Timothy Thatcher, he was the bruiser type, responsible for the dirty work. I was the arrogant snob, the young kid. And WALTER was the enforcer, the guy who comes in and wipes everybody out. But when WWE did Imperium again, me and my former partner were the tag team, and he was the main guy out in front. That just created a different dynamic. So Ringkampf, or even Imperium, my side of Imperium was always different from Gunther’s.”
Kaiser and Gunther wrestled together from 2016 to 2019 in Ringkampf alongside Timothy Thatcher and Christian Michael Jakobi before bringing the Imperium name to NXT UK in 2019 with Alexander Wolfe and Giovanni Vinci. While Gunther has since become a top singles star and former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Kaiser continues to compete on his own, embracing a new chapter outside of their iconic alliance.
Ludwig Kaiser Explains Why He and Gunther Chose to End Their WWE Partnership
