| Imperium | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Statistics | |
| Members | Gunther (leader) Ludwig Kaiser Giovanni Vinci Alexander Wolfe |
| Name | Imperium |
| Billed from | Europe |
| Debut | 22 May 2019 |
| Disbanded | 23 December 2024 |
| Years active | 2019–2024 |
Imperium was a Europeanvillainousprofessional wrestlingstable inWWE which consisted ofGunther from Austria,Ludwig Kaiser andAlexander Wolfe from Germany, andGiovanni Vinci from Italy.
Previously working for several European promotions, including together as part of the stable Ringkampf, Gunther and Kaiser (then known as Walter and Marcel Barthel) signed with WWE in 2019. They debuted onNXT UK and were paired with Vinci (then known as Fabian Aichner) and Wolfe; the group changed its name to Imperium and continued the Ringkampf motto ofDie Matte ist heilig (German for "themat is sacred"). During their time in NXT, Walter became the longest-reigningNXT UK Champion, while Barthel and Aichner became two-timeNXT Tag Team Champions.
Wolfe was kicked out in May 2021 and Aichner left in April 2022; later that month, Gunther and Kaiser debuted as a duo on theSmackDown and dropped the Imperium name, with Gunther later becoming the longest-reigningWWE Intercontinental Champion. Imperium reunited as a trio and began using the name again when Vinci rejoined in September 2022, but he was kicked out in April 2024 and the stable quietly dissolved later that year. As of 2026, Gunther and Kaiser are the only former Imperium members employed with WWE.
From 2016 to 2019, Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser (then known as Walter and Axel Dieter Jr.) were members of a stable called Ringkampf alongsideTimothy Thatcher and Christian Michael Jakobi, in which they worked on several European promotions. Ringkampf's first match occurred on 23 September 2016 when Axel Dieter Jr. teamed up with Walter and Thatcher to defeat Da Mack, Francis Kaspin andJohn Klinger in a tag team match at thewXw Shotgun Live Tour inLudwigshafen.[1] Ringkampf also wrestled forProgress Wrestling. At Chapter 47, Ringkampf (Walter, Dieter and Thatcher) challengedBritish Strong Style (Pete Dunne,Trent Seven andTyler Bate) for all of their championships, in a six-man tag team match, but they were unsuccessful.[2][3] In October 2020, Walter announced he would close Ringkampf since he, Wolfe and Barthel wouldn't work for wXw.[4]
On 22 May 2019 episode ofNXT UK, Walter won a rematch for the United Kingdom Championship against Dunne, after interference by the European Union (Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel), thus establishing himself as a heel.[5] They would form a faction under the nameImperium.[6] The faction would later be joined by Alexander Wolfe, after he interfered in a match pitting Imperium against British Strong Style. On the 26 June episode ofNXT UK, Walter retained his title againstTravis Banks. On 3 July episode ofNXT UK, Imperium interfered inMoustache Mountain's title match againstGrizzled Young Veterans therefore making Grizzled Young Veterans retain their titles. After the match, they injured Tyler Bate. On 31 August atNXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff, Walter retained his title against Bate.[7]
In the build-up for theNXT UK andNXT co-branded pay-per-view,Worlds Collide, Imperium started a feud withThe Undisputed Era (NXT ChampionAdam Cole,Roderick Strong, andNXT Tag Team ChampionsBobby Fish andKyle O'Reilly), and during the final moments ofNXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II on 12 January 2020, the group attacked Imperium following Walter's successful title defense againstJoe Coffey, thus further intensifying it.[8][9] The following week, the WWE United Kingdom Championship was renamed to NXT United Kingdom Championship and Walter was presented with a slightly updated belt design, with the WWE logo at the center being replaced with the NXT UK logo.[10] On 13 May 2020, Barthel and Aichner defeated Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher (a substitute for Pete Dunne) to win the NXT Tag team Championship after Thatcher walked out on Riddle.[11] The duo lost the titles to Breezango (Fandango &Tyler Breeze) on the 26 August episode of NXT.[12] On the 29 October episode ofNXT UK, Walter retained the United Kingdom Championship in a match againstIlja Dragunov.[13]
On 19 February 2021, Walter became the longest-reigning NXT United Kingdom Champion, breaking Pete Dunne's record of 685 days, making Walter the longest-reigning champion in WWE history since 1988.[14] On the 18 May episode ofNXT, after Wolfe was defeated byKillian Dain, he was attacked by Aichner and Barthel, thus kicking him out of the faction. This was done to write him off television as Wolfe's WWE contract was due to expire the following June; he was subsequently among the group of NXT talent released from their contracts the following day.[15][16] AtNXT TakeOver 36, Walter dropped the United Kingdom Championship to Dragunov in a rematch ending his historic reign at 870 days.[17] AtNXT: Halloween Havoc, Aichner and Berthel regained the NXT Tag Team Championship by defeatingMSK.[18] They later lost the titles back to MSK atStand & Deliver the following year, in a triple threat match that also involvedThe Creed Brothers. Their final NXT appearance was on the 5 April episode ofNXT when Aichner and Barthel faced the Creed brothers in a losing effort, with Aichner walking out of their match, and Gunther facingNXT ChampionBron Breakker in a losing effort.[citation needed]
On 8 April 2022, Gunther and Barthel (now going by Ludwig Kaiser) debuted onSmackDown for the first time with Gunther defeating Joe Alonzo in his first match; while their association was maintained, the Imperium name was dropped.[19] On the 27 May episode ofSmackDown, Gunther and Kaiser made their debut as a tag team againstDrew Gulak andRicochet, with Kaiser pinning Gulak for the win.[20] On the 10 June episode ofSmackDown, Gunther defeated Ricochet to win theIntercontinental Championship, making him the first Austrian to win the title.[21] Prior to Gunther's title defense atClash at the Castle, Kaiser announced the reformation of Imperium by reintroducing Aichner, now known as Giovanni Vinci. Gunther subsequently defeatedSheamus to retain the Intercontinental Championship,[22][23] and since then Imperium has been involved in a feud with Sheamus' groupThe Brawling Brutes. AtExtreme Rules on 8 October Imperium lost to The Brawling Brutes in a Six Man Tag Team Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook match.[24] In Night 2 ofWrestleMania 39, Gunther successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship againstSheamus andDrew McIntyre in atriple threat match.[25] As part of the2023 WWE Draft, Imperium were drafted to theRawbrand. This marked their return to Raw since their last appearance duringNXT's invasion of Raw on 11 November 2019.[26][27]
Gunther lost the Intercontinental Championship toSami Zayn atWrestleMania XL on 6 April 2024, ending his reign at a record-setting 666 days.[28] On the 22 April 2024 episode ofRaw, after Vinci and Kaiser lost to The New Day, Kaiser attacked Vinci and kicked him out of Imperium; Gunther was not involved and gave no comment.[29] Vinci's expulsion from the group was solidified when he was drafted to SmackDown a week later during the2024 WWE Draft,[30] and was released from WWE on 8 February 2025.[31] Gunther and Kaiser made their last appearance together backstage on the 23 December 2024 episode ofRaw.[32] They then began focusing on singles competition, quietly dissolving the stable with no announcements being made.[33] Gunther retained the group's entrance music and character, while Kaiser was repackaged as a maskedluchador namedEl Grande Americano.[34][35]
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| L | Leader |
|---|---|
| * | Founding member(s) |
| Members | Joined | Left |
|---|---|---|
| Gunther (L) | 22 May 2019 * | 23 December 2024 |
| Ludwig Kaiser | 22 May 2019 * | 23 December 2024 |
| Giovanni Vinci | 22 May 2019 * | 22 April 2024[a] |
| Alexander Wolfe | 12 June 2019 | 18 May 2021 |
