WWE star makes history in Royal Rumble debut, appears with girlfriend at event

WWE Royal Rumble fallout continues on The Road to WrestleMania 40. Various superstars have their own reasons to celebrate, but one 16-year veteran made history at the big event on Saturday.

Ludwig Kaiser began his wrestling journey in March 2008 as Axel Dieter on the European indie scene. He had strong runs with PROGRESS Wrestling and wXw, among other promotions, then signed with WWE in June 2017. He began working under his real name initially, Marcel Barthel, and eventually settled into the role of a top midcard talent and Gunther's right-hand man in Imperium.

Kaiser made his Royal Rumble debut on Saturday night. He entered the men's Rumble at #12, and lasted 9 minutes and 29 seconds before Kofi Kingston made him the 10th elimination. The 32-year-old took to Instagram today and commented on being the first-ever German wrestler to compete in the Rumble.

"First [German flag emoji] ever in Royal Rumble History [crown emoji] #LK #EuropeanElegance #APlusEVERYTHING," he wrote.

The official WWE Deutschland account on X issued a congratulatory message to Kaiser, confirming the history-making moment.

"History written! @wwe_kaiser is the first German in a #RoyalRumble match! [German flag emoji] #LudwigKaiser," they wrote. [Translated by Google]

Giovanni Vinci did not make his Royal Rumble debut last night, but Kaiser's girlfriend Tiffany Stratton did. The Buff Barbie entered the women's Rumble at #29, but just 6 minutes and 52 seconds later, winner Bayley made her the 27th elimination. Her only elimination was Roxanne Perez.

---

Ludwig Kaiser and Tiffany Stratton appear at WWE event

Royal Rumble Weekend continued today as WWE held a red carpet premiere for Love & WWE: Bianca & Montez. The new Hulu reality series on Bianca Belair and Montez Ford is set to premiere on Friday, February 2.

Tiffany Stratton and Ludwig Kaiser were among the wrestling couples that appeared on the red carpet. This looks to be their first time together at an official WWE event. As seen below, Kaiser gave a brief preview on their 2024 when talking to Denise Salcedo.

The Imperium member also talked about making history as the first German Royal Rumble entrant.

"It was obviously quite an experience, an event like the prestigious Royal Rumble. Looking back at the history of it, how many great legends of our great sport participated in that, wrote history... For myself, yesterday I actually got to write some history. I was the very first German ever in the Royal Rumble, which is an amazing privilege and honor to me. And, yeah... 2024 really starts off great for me, and we are both determined to make this our year. Right?" he said.

The 32-year-old Kaiser and the 24-year-old Stratton began dating some time in 2022. They went public with their relationship that month by going on a double date with their good friends - Gunther and Jinny.

What were the worst moments from the 2024 Royal Rumble? Do you think Ludwig Kaiser is ready for a singles push? Sound off in the comments section below!