WWE SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis cost Gunther a title chance at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. He proudly claimed credit for it.
The main event on Saturday pitted CM Punk and Cody Rhodes against Gunther and Sami Zayn, with the SummerSlam picture riding on the outcome. A Gunther and Zayn win would have changed the advertised title match. Punk and Rhodes winning kept it a one-on-one bout for the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam.
On social media, when asked if he had derailed The Ring General’s shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship, Aldis answered with two words: “Damn right it did.”
The blunt admission turns an already personal feud into open warfare, and it lines up with reporting that WWE has weighed a program between the two.
The finish was chaotic. After Zayn broke up a pinfall attempt, he accidentally wiped out referee Charles Robinson, forcing a replacement official to run down.
With Gunther seemingly about to put Rhodes away, Aldis pulled the substitute referee out of the ring before the count, then blasted Gunther in the face with the title belt. That opened the door for Punk to land a Go To Sleep, and Rhodes covered Gunther for the win.
Nick Aldis vs. Gunther Heat Keeps Building
The confrontation is the latest flashpoint between the two. On the July 10 episode of SmackDown, Gunther attacked Aldis after demanding a fresh route back into the Undisputed WWE Championship picture, and the tension has only sharpened since.
There have reportedly been internal discussions about a Gunther vs. Nick Aldis match, and the interference reads as another step toward that direction. Aldis has also made clear he still wants to wrestle, which makes a physical payoff plausible rather than theoretical.
