SmackDown has added several members of the NXT roster to its ranks, and some of them have been given new names. Say auf wiedersehen to Marcel Barthel and hallo to Ludwig Kaiser!

Former NXT Tag Team Champion Marcel Barthel made his main roster debut alongside his Imperium stablemate Gunther on this week's edition of SmackDown. It all went down at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin of Friday, April 8. For his match against local talent Joe Alonzo, Gunther (formerly known as Walter) was accompanied to the ring by Barthel, who is now going by the name Ludwig Kaiser. Kaiser and Gunther were wearing new red attire which stood in stark contrast to the dark gear they typically wore during their NXT tenure.

Gunther made short work of Alonzo and got his SmackDown career off to an impressive start in what was his first main roster appearance since 2019. The Austrian behemouth is a former NXT United Kingdom Champion who won the title from Pete Dunne (Butch) way back in April 2019 at NXT TakeOver: New York. After 870-days, Gunther's reign as NXT UK Champion came to an end at NXT TakeOver 36 when he lost to Ilja Dragunov following a brutal, hard-hitting match.

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"It is tough to bet against Walter," Triple H said of Gunther (back when was Gunther was still called WALTER) during an appearance on The Bump back in January 2021. "Anyone who has watched him over the last few years, anyone who has recently watched him against Ilja [Dragunov], one of the most physically imposing, physically dominating performers out there. There's no wasted movement, he's not flashy, he doesn't care about how it looks, he's just effective."

Imperium's third member Fabian Aichner was nowhere in sight, but hopefully he shows up soon. Kaiser and Aichner lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter) at NXT Stand & Deliver on Saturday, but MSK has since vacated the gold as a result of Carter's reported release.