Add as a preferred source on Google Gunther and Sami Zayn have a chance tonight at Saturday Night’s Main Event at Madison Square Garden to turn the SummerSlam main event into a Fatal 4-Way Match for the Undisputed WWE Championship. To make that happen, they’ll need to beat CM Punk and Cody Rhodes.
The setup, though, appears designed for Nick Aldis’s return — and for his rivalry with Gunther to begin in earnest.
Last week, Gunther attacked the SmackDown General Manager with several sleeper holds after Aldis announced the tag team match. Even while sidelined, Aldis was the one who insisted tonight’s match stay on the card.
That decision could be a trap. Aldis knows Gunther wants back into the main event and could show up at the decisive moment, either causing a distraction or attacking the Ring General while the referee is down or distracted. Punk and Rhodes would then seize the opening to win, keeping their previously announced SummerSlam match intact.
Sami Zayn would be the main victim in that scenario. The former champion lost the Undisputed WWE Championship to Punk after a reign of just nine days, and he’s now relying on Gunther to help him get his spot back. Interference from Aldis would end his chances without him being beaten outright, preserving the character for another rivalry.
Gunther’s obsession Shifts Back to Nick Aldis for SummerSlam
For Gunther, the loss would carry a different kind of consequence. His obsession with the title would give way to a confrontation with the man who, in his eyes, has been standing between him and his return to the top. Last week’s attack already made things personal, and Aldis returning in New York City would give him an immediate answer.
As previously reported by Wrestling Noticias, Gunther vs. Nick Aldis is set internally for SummerSlam. The match would mark Aldis’s in-ring debut in WWE, after he took over as SmackDown General Manager in October 2023.
WWE needs to pull Gunther from the Fatal 4-Way without weakening him, while also kicking off this new rivalry with little time left before the August event. Having Aldis cost him the win tonight solves both problems.
This is one perspective on how Saturday Night’s Main Event could play out. As of now, WWE has not confirmed Nick Aldis’s return for tonight.