WWE champion GUNTHER helped top star get into ‘best shape of his life’

WWE superstar Ludwig Kaiser has revealed the profound impact GUNTHER has had on his career.

The Ring General will take on Jey Uso in the opening match at WrestleMania 41 tonight, and his Imperium ally has reflected on their long lasting bond since the early days coming up on the European independent wrestling scene.

Revealing how they still inspire each other today, Ludwig exclusively told Metro: ”The whole reason why, in my first couple of years, I gained like 20 kilos in three months [was] him.

‘When I went on my little bulk in America during Covid, he was the one who influenced me to diet down and be in the best shape of my life.

‘So, the best friendships are the ones where you compliment each other and where you’re also comfortable to sometimes say the unfortunate or the uncomfortable truth, and we have this relationship. So, I’m very grateful for that.’

Ludwig – who, like GUNTHER, is part of this year’s WWE 2K25 roster – admitted he found it ‘much more difficult to bulk’ than he did to shift the weight.

‘I’m full the entire day, I’m tired the entire day of feeling lazy. You get stronger, you build muscle and stuff. But it’s a miserable lifestyle to me,’ he said.

‘So to me, it’s always easier to diet and to just say, “No, I’m not gonna eat this right now.” ‘

‘It’s much easier than to stuff myself. GUNTHER is the other way around, I’m not sure if that’s surprising,’ he laughed.

GUNTHER has also got himself into phenomenal shape after a remarkable body transformation, and he’ll be defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Jey Uso.

While some fans – and champ himself – were critical of Jey as his big WrestleMania title defence, the Austrian star is taking a much more pragmatic approach now.

‘[I’m] always very proud of the work I do – I don’t know about Jey! I think we’re in a very good spot,’ GUNTHER said.

‘There is a lot of people that followed me before WWE, they wanna see me in those technical ring matches, but in WWE, that’s not really what it’s about, it’s about more aspects.

‘You can’t deny it, think about Jey whatever you want, but most people – I was under the ring at Madison Square Garden ready to jump that guy, and that floor was shaking when he made his entrance.’

The Ring General insisted Jey’s ability to ‘move people’ and ‘create emotions’ is undeniable, but there’s still work to be done.

‘When it comes to the bell ringing, he better step up,’ he added.

For GUNTHER’s fans, just seeing him even in this position is surprising – not for a lack of talent, but for so long he didn’t see WWE as something he wanted to achieve.

‘For me and GUNTHER – not even [about it] being realistic, it was never really the goal,’ Ludwig confessed. ‘At this point in Germany, we wanted to create something, to leave something behind when we are done.’

Instead, they were focused on building a legacy, while earning ‘a little more than 100 bucks’ and hoping to not ‘have to sleep under the ring’ anymore.

It’s been a long ride, but they’re happy to be in this position all these years later.

‘You kind of roll with the punches a little bit, you go with it, and it goes so fast, but sometimes you really have to actively take a step back and look at what you did and what you achieved so far,’ Ludwig smiled.

‘And we’re far from being done. It’s an exciting ride that we’re on.’

WWE WrestleMania 41 comes to Netflix live at midnight on April 19 and 20. Stand and Deliver hits the streamer at 6pm on April 19. WWE 2K25 is out now.

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