WWE News: Superstar debuts at NXT Live Event

What’s the story?

There was a big debut at NXT’s Live Event in Cocoa, Florida last night with German-born Superstar Axel Dieter Jr. finally making his Live Event debut for WWE NXT using his real name Marcel Barthel.

In case you didn’t know

Axel Dieter Jr. is best known for his work on the German independent scene, especially his time in Germany’s wXw (Westside Xtreme Wrestling) promotion. The 26-year old also made appearances in the UK’s PROGRESS Wrestling promotion.

Dieter was already a 2-time wXw Tag-Team Champion and a former Unified World Wrestling Champion when he signed for the WWE in 2017 and big things are expected from the young German.

The heart of the matter

Alex Dieter Jr. made his WWE NXT debut using his real name Marcel Barthel. The young German faced Roderick Strong in his first match and Barthel looked impressive in his first showing before eventually coming up short against the former “Mr. ROH”.

#NXTCocoa Welcome to NXT @AxelDieterJr pic.twitter.com/fQmTwT9Fxi

— JJ Williams (@JJWilliamsWON) June 23, 2017

What’s next?

Big things are expected from the young German Superstar who recently signed with WWE. If his first match was anything to go by, they hype surrounding Barthel is real and he will look to follow in the footsteps of fellow countryman Alexander Wolfe and carve out a name for himself in NXT with his eventual goal being a spot on the main roster.

Author’s take

WWE have big hopes for Marcel Barthel and it is clear why. The former wXw Tag-Team Champion is clearly talented and with WWE signing more European wrestlers, we can expect more talents like him crossing the Atlantic to sign with WWE.

As far as Barthel goes, he definitely looks talented enough to succeed in NXT and we now have to wait and see what gimmick WWE give him for the long run. We doubt he will continue to wrestle under his real name.