Aldis Nearly Submits Gunther Ahead Of SummerSlam Showdown

The rivalry between Nick Aldis and Gunther boiled over on the final SmackDown before SummerSlam, as the SmackDown General Manager nearly forced the Ring General to tap out during a chaotic brawl that closed out the show.

The segment began with Gunther crashing the SmackDown opening to needle Aldis, calling him a washed-up wrestler who was jealous of his accomplishments. Things escalated quickly from there. Gunther laid out both Finn Balor and Sami Zayn, which brought Raw General Manager Adam Pearce and a swarm of security to the ring to try to restore order. That’s when Aldis, unable to stay on the sidelines any longer, sprinted down to confront Gunther himself, and the two traded heavy strikes in front of a stunned crowd.

Gunther attempted to put an exclamation point on the brawl with a powerbomb, but Aldis reversed it and shocked everyone by locking in his Kingsclere Cloverleaf. For a tense moment, one of WWE’s most dominant figures of the last several years was trapped in a submission hold, with officials, security, and Pearce having to swarm the ring to pry the two apart before a tap-out could happen. Gunther eventually wriggled free and fired back with a boot to Aldis, but the damage to his aura was already done — for perhaps the first time in his WWE run, Gunther looked genuinely vulnerable.

The brawl is the latest chapter in a personal feud that has been building for weeks. Gunther previously choked Aldis unconscious and put him through a table during a contract signing, and tensions deepened further after Aldis, using his authority as SmackDown GM, denied Gunther a future world title opportunity — effectively keeping him out of the SummerSlam main event conversation entirely. That decision clearly didn’t sit well with Gunther, and this latest confrontation reads like payback on both sides of the ledger.

The two will finally settle things directly at SummerSlam in Minneapolis in their first-ever singles match. Notably, the stipulation requires Aldis to step away from his SmackDown General Manager duties for the match, with Pearce taking over oversight of the brand for the event.

This is a fascinating pairing on paper. Gunther has built his entire WWE persona around being unbeatable and nearly impossible to put in danger, so seeing him briefly trapped in a submission hold — even without a finish — does real work to make Aldis feel like a credible threat heading into their match. Aldis, for his part, brings a wrestling résumé that predates his current authority-figure role, and this angle has been a nice way to remind fans he can still go when pushed into a corner.

The added stakes of Aldis losing his GM powers for the night also raise the question of what happens if Pearce runs SmackDown differently during the show, or if Gunther has allies waiting in the wings now that Aldis won’t have institutional protection. With emotions clearly at a boiling point, SummerSlam in Minneapolis suddenly has one more must-watch grudge match on the card.

This is getting GOOD! 🔥@RealNickAldis WILL NOT back down from @Gunther_AUT! pic.twitter.com/LMYDbcGKkO

— WWE (@WWE) August 1, 2026