Add as a preferred source on Google WWE acknowledged Nick Aldis’ work outside the company in its official SummerSlam match preview, posted just hours before his first match under the WWE banner.
Aldis meets Gunther on night one of SummerSlam on Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
The preview bills Aldis as a former world champion recognized worldwide on the independent scene and makes a point of noting he is “more than just a man in a suit.”
WWE put Gunther over as one of the most dangerous wrestlers on the planet, crediting him with retiring Goldberg, AJ Styles and John Cena inside the last year, and pointed to Aldis as the latest to cost him the Undisputed WWE Championship — a reference to the finish at Saturday Night’s Main Event at Madison Square Garden.
No promotion or title was named. Aldis won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship working as Magnus and is a two-time NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion. His second run with the Ten Pounds of Gold went 1,043 days, from October 2018 to August 2021.
Saturday will be Aldis’ first match of any kind since 2023. He had to give up his executive role to get it, signing the contract on the July 24 SmackDown after Adam Pearce told him he couldn’t run the brand and work as an active talent at the same time.
Wade Barrett clarified on commentary that the move is only temporary.
On Friday’s go-home SmackDown in Green Bay, Aldis ran out on Gunther and locked in the Texas Cloverleaf before officials broke it up.