I don’t believe there’s any chance of Nick Aldis winning against GUNTHER this weekend at SummerSlam, but I did really like what WWE did with him tonight. The opening segment of the show was a bit of a mess, but it ended with Aldis locking in a Texas Cloverleaf on “The Ringer General,” which I loved.
Aldis has smacked GUNTHER around here and there, including with the title at Saturday Night’s Main Event, and with a microphone during their contract signing segment last week, but seeing him apply a hold to GUNTHER felt entirely different. It was a good different ahead of the match, however, and made things feel a little more serious, like it leveled the playing field a bit better.
In addition to getting the upper hand on his opponent, Aldis also got a nice video package with a few highlights of his career. The segment started out with the former NWA Heavyweight Champion saying that being “SmackDown” General Manager wasn’t his first dream, being a professional wrestler was. The package then cut to footage from his previous matches in the NWA, AAA, and TNA, and showed him facing off against notable faces who have spent time in WWE, or are in the company now, including Cody Rhodes, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, and more. If you weren’t familiar with the career of Aldis before, this didn’t do too terribly much, but it did highlight how fantastic he’s looked (and I’m sure still looks) and showed him off with some gold against faces familiar to any wrestling fan.
I also liked that he explained he was fine leaving the active, full-time in-ring career behind, until GUNTHER put his hands on him. He said a man can only be pushed so far until he’s left with one final choice, and his is to “lace them up tight and face GUNTHER one-on-one like a man.” Simple, and kind of obvious, but effective enough.
I’ve also noticed that it hasn’t been said on-air that the match will officially end the in-ring career of Aldis. GUNTHER has certainly said it in interviews promoting their match on Saturday, but it’s not been official on graphics or anything. I suppose there’s a slight chance that Aldis could win, but even if he doesn’t, I wouldn’t be mad if he continued wrestling here and there, as him going back to the general manager position, on either brand, feels odd. But for once, this is an unknown I don’t mind when it comes to WWE, and I’m curious what happens not just in tomorrow’s match, but moving forward.
Written by Daisy Ruth
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