WWE star Ludwig Kaiser arrested on battery charge in Florida
A professional wrestler whose career has been on the up in recent years has found himself on the wrong side of the law after an alleged assault landed him behind bars.
Recently performing as a luchador called 'El Grande Americano', many WWE fans may struggle to identify him without the mask, but one wrestling aficionado spotted Ludwig Kaiser's mugshot yesterday.
Real name Marcel Bethel, the star was arrested by police in Florida on a battery charge and placed under a $1000 bond, though little other information about this altercation was released alongside his mugshot.
The arrest took place at around 2pm with reports that Kaiser spent around nine hours in Orange County Corrections' custody before making bail, causing many in the wrestling world to speculate about what he did to end up behind bars.
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The 35-year-old wrestler was reportedly arrested after an altercation between him and another man, Fightful correspondent Sean Ross shared after contacting the WWE about speculation that his arrest was over a domestic incident.
However, further details about his arrest are not publicly available, and the two-time WWE NXT tag team champion has yet to comment on the incident.
Wrestling fans who have not watched the sport in a while may recognize him better under his German fighter alter ego, Ludwig Kaiser, who he performed as for many years from 2017 onwards.
But last year, when masked wrestler Chad Gable was injured, Kaiser decided to pick up his luchador mask and wrestle under a newly latinized name - 'El Grande Americano'.
Gable has since recovered and returned to the ring, except now he's engaged with a bitter feud with the man who stole his mask and identity as 'the big American'.
With all this bubbling away in the background, Gable is set to face off against Gable for a Mask v Mask match at the end of this month, May 30, for the AAA Noche De Los Grandes event in Monterrey, Mexico.
Kaiser's last performance took place just two days before his arrest, with the wrestler taking to the mat for Monday Night Raw on May 18, where he fought in the 'Trios Tornado match', facing down Gable, who billed himself as the 'orginal' Grande Americano.
William Morgan