WWE’s Stance After Top Stars Sent Home Following Backstage Fight
A backstage fight on WWE television has sparked an interesting storyline that could culminate in a huge match at SummerSlam.
In the main event of WWE Night of Champions, Gunther failed to win the WWE Championship in a triple threat match between the former champion, Cody Rhodes, and Sami Zayn, who pinned Rhodes to become the WWE Champion for the first time.
During the Night of Champions post-show, the “Ring General” Gunther got in the face of SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis and put his hands on him, calling him a failed wrestler and claiming that he’s jealous of Gunther. Aldis had had enough of Gunther’s actions and shoved him back. After more words were exchanged, Gunther and Aldis were separated.
On the WWE Monday Night Raw episode on June 29th, announcer Michael Cole announced that Aldis had been placed on administrative leave.
“We have an update on the situation. This is an official statement from WWE headquarters. General Manager of SmackDown Nick Aldis and Gunther have been sent home because of the situation. Also Nick Aldis has been placed on adminstrative leave pending further investigation, so RAW General Manager Adam Pearce will run both RAW and SmackDown for the time being.”
After the incident, the speculation became rampant about Aldis finally having a match in WWE. While Aldis hasn’t wrestled in WWE yet, he has been a wrestler since 2004 and is a former 2-time NWA World Champion and 1-time TNA World Champion, among other accolades.
Nick Aldis Will Likely Face Gunther At WWE SummerSlam
Since joining WWE in the summer of 2023 as a Producer and as the SmackDown General Manager in October 2023, many people have wondered when he would get the chance to wrestle in WWE. That chance may be happening at SummerSlam.
Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select reports that “there have been significant internal discussions about an in-ring program between Aldis and Gunther.”
It was also noted that in 2025, there were internal talks in WWE about Aldis potentially facing Solo Sikoa, who has been a top heel on the SmackDown brand during Aldis’ tenure on the show.
The report also mentioned that if the match happens, then “the expectation is that it will be Gunther facing Aldis and not Aldis selecting someone to fight for him.”
Recently, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer spoke about the Gunther-Aldis story and wondered about Aldis’s long-term future in WWE.
“They’re going to wrestle at SummerSlam, yeah. Aldis, I guess because he’s big, with the big shoulders and all that in the suit, there’s always been that thing like, ‘Oh, he should wrestle.’ Hopefully it’s only a one-match thing.
I like him as a General Manager, and I think if they replace him, they’re probably replacing him with someone who’s not as good. If he becomes a wrestler, I don’t think he’ll be successful at this stage of the game. But for one match on a big show? Sure.”
While Aldis has not wrestled since 2023, he is a big man who remains in great shape and will likely be prepared to compete at the highest level at SummerSlam or any other event that WWE wants him to compete at.