Popular WWE star sends message ahead of return on SmackDown; hasn't wrestled in 137 days
A WWE Superstar delivered a message on social media ahead of his return on tonight's edition of SmackDown. The star in question has not been in action since the April 22, 2024, episode of WWE RAW.
Imperium's Ludwig Kaiser brutally attacked Giovanni Vinci earlier this year on the red brand following a loss to The New Day in a tag team match. Vinci has not appeared since the attack but will be making his return later tonight on SmackDown.
Ahead of tonight's show, the former Imperium member took to his Instagram story to comment on his return. You can check out Vinci's Instagram story by clicking here.
"Tonight is the night," he wrote.
Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser (formerly known as Marcel Barthel) captured the NXT Tag Team Championship twice as a duo. However, they never became champions during their time as a tag team on WWE's main roster.
Former WWE writer believes Giovanni Vinci should have been in a marquee match at Bash in Berlin
Wrestling legend Vince Russo believes the promotion should have booked Giovanni Vinci to face Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship at Bash in Berlin.
Gunther successfully defended the title against Randy Orton at the Premium Live Event in Germany last Saturday. After the match, the two rivals shook hands in a sign of respect. Speaking on a recent episode of Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws show, Russo suggested Vinci should have returned to face his former stablemate at Bash in Berlin.
"Chris, they could have made an opponent out of freaking that Da Vinci guy," Russo said. "They could have made an opponent out of him, but no, they beat the cr*p out of him and never saw him again. Okay, so now we've got Randy Orton in a very predictable match, but it's gonna be five stars!" [8:32 – 8:50]
You can check out Russo's comments in the video below:
Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser have both been successful as singles stars so far. It will be interesting to see what lies ahead for Giovanni Vinci on WWE SmackDown and if he can find success after Imperium left him behind earlier this year.