EL GRANDE AMERICANO

Originally a hacky joke handed to Chad Gable in early 2025, the El Grande Americano mantle passed to Ludwig Kaiser (Marcel Barthel) when Gable suffered an injury — and under the mask, the Hamburg-born former Imperium member became an entirely different performer. Suave and magnetic, Kaiser transcended the inherent stupidity of the gimmick to achieve a very, very unlikely stardom — headlining full-blown AAA cards, cutting fluent Spanish promos, and becoming one of the two most popular luchadors in the world alongside Místico. As El Grande Americano, he leads the faction Los Americanos alongside the former Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate.

The storyline's peak came at AAA Noche de Los Grandes, where Kaiser's El Grande Americano collided with Chad Gable's "The Original" El Grande Americano in a mask vs. mask match at Arena Monterrey — headlining a sold-out show in front of 12,000 people, producing a bout Dave Meltzer called "one of the great match presentations of all-time." Gable lost his alternate identity as the Original El Grande Americano, falling to Kaiser's El Grande Americano, and Kaiser celebrated with his friends and his people as the one and only El Grande Americano.