An update ahead of Ludwig Kaiser’s pre-trial conference.
On July 16th, there is a pre-trial hearing scheduled for WWE talent Ludwig Kaiser following his arrest for a battery incident in April 2026.
The incident between Kaiser and the alleged victim, Richard Reap, took place in Orlando, Florida at an apartment complex where they both resided. Reap alleges that Kaiser and a female were aggressively kissing, to which he told them to have some manners, and that escalated to Kaiser putting his hands on him.
Kaiser’s version of the events is listed as follows:
“The elevator stopped at the 12th floor where Mr. Reap exited, and as he exited Mr. Reap made loud comments to Mr. Barthel and his girlfriend to the effect of, ‘Have some f***ing respect.’ Apparently, Mr. Reap was offended by Mr. Barthel and his girlfriend hugging while in the elevator. Mr. Barthel leaned out of the elevator to ask Mr. Reap what he said as he was confused by the statement. Mr. Reap then made a statement to the effect of, ‘Have some respect before I call ICE on that bitch’ Mr. Barthel’s girlfriend is of Mexican descent.”
Mr. Barthel exited the elevator and confronted Mr. Reap verbally telling him his statements were offensive and inappropriate. Mr. Barthel did not threaten or touch Mr. Reap at that point. Mr. Reap then came toward Mr. Barthel aggressively raising his hands and getting very close to him. Mr. Barthel, in fear that Mr. Reap was going to batter him, pushed Mr. Reap away.
Mr. Barthel walked back into the elevator, where his girlfriend was standing. Mr. Reap then approached the elevator in a threatening manner. Mr. Barthel stepped out of the elevator and told Mr. Reap to leave them alone. Mr. Reap walked away briefly and came back toward the elevator again in a threatening manner. Mr. Barthel was concerned that Mr. Reap would physically attack him or his girlfriend, so he pushed him away, and returned to the elevator.
Mr. Reap then threw a soft drink bottle at Mr. Barthel. Mr. Barthel did not retaliate. Rather, he remained in the elevator, pushed the button for his floor and left the area.
In this altercation, Mr. Barthel pushed Mr. Reap only after Mr. Reap had approached Mr. Barthel aggressively and threatened him. Mr. Barthel pushed Mr. Reap to stop his continuing approach and attack. Mr. Barthel then entered the elevator where his girlfriend remained and left the area.”
In late June, Kaiser’s defense was granted access to view the surveillance footage of what occurred.
Is this WWE legal or his own defense?
Everything I’ve seen refers to ‘his defense’ so I’m guessing WWE isn’t covering it, but don’t know 100%. I wouldn’t think WWE would be involved since it didn’t happened at an event or anything. From a corporate stand point its probably easier (and let’s face it, cheaper) to let the talent take care of stuff like this themselves so WWE doesn’t have to decide what cases they would and wouldn’t cover.
Yeah, employers don’t do that for actual employees off-the-clock there is no way they’d do it for independent contractors.