Chad Gable was seemingly thought to be the man behind the mask as El Grande Americano before he suffered a shoulder injury. However, WWE made the choice to allow Americano to remain on screen. The masked luchador battled Dragon Lee in a singles match on this week's RAW.
It's clear that someone new is under the mask now, and there was one massive, glaring change spotted in El Grande Americano this past Monday. As seen from the images below, the man behind Americano's mask wasn't even wearing the gear that Gable seemingly used to don when he portrayed this character.
While the masks are similar, the writing on them is different, and there is a stripe under the nose of the new mask as well. It seems that a new gear has been made for the new star, as he is much taller than Chad Gable.
Many fans have noted that whoever is portraying Americano at present doesn't have as much muscle mass and is much taller. Of course, this isn't the first time that the company has swapped out a masked star; the global juggernaut was able to get away with it for a while with Sin Cara (AKA Mistico) more than a decade ago.
Is Ludwig Kaiser the man portraying El Grande Americano on WWE RAW?
Ludwig Kaiser was spotted with American Made in several backstage segments before WWE pulled the trigger on him, with the German pro wrestler seemingly taking over the role of the masked luchador. Kaiser hadn't been used on TV for several months before this, and this seems to be a way for him to be featured on weekly programming as part of a storyline.
Gable is expected to be out for several months after undergoing surgery on his shoulder, so Kaiser could play this role for the rest of the year. That said, it will be interesting to see if WWE opts to swap Gable back into the El Grande Americano character when he returns, or if there will be a storyline with Kaiser that will see him put the mask on the line.