Gunther, Marcel Barthel & Raquel Gonzalez Called Up to SmackDown

Gunther, Marcel Barthel and Raquel Gonzalez all made appearances on tonight’s SmackDown and have been called up to the main roster.

Gunther & Barthel

Marcel Barthel has been given a new name: Ludwig Kaiser.

Kaiser came out onto the stage and introduced “Gunther” for his match, which was a squash against Joe Alonzo. Gunther hit him with a few big chops then as the crowd chanted “Walter,” he hit him with a big powerbomb to finish him off, and he and Kaiser posed in the ring.

It was reported earlier this week that the two were being considered for a main roster call-up.

Their former Imperium stablemate Fabian Aichner will apparently not be joining them, as was also reported. There was an angle on Tuesday’s NXT where Aichner walked out on Barthel during Imperium’s tag team match against the Creed Brothers.

Raquel Gonzalez

Raquel Gonzalez also has a new name on SmackDown: Raquel Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was interviewed backstage, towering over the much shorter Kayla Braxton, when she was interrupted by Los Lotharios. They said that they would like to welcome her to SmackDown with a kiss, but she smiled and said “not a chance” and they walked off.

.@RaquelWWE is here on #SmackDown and she’s ready to make a statement! pic.twitter.com/NGEwwuFqVq

— WWE (@WWE) April 9, 2022