Nick Aldis said he never pushed for a match at SummerSlam, but was ready when it came.
Aldis faced Gunther on night one at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, his first match in nearly three years. He lost in a match that ran close to 12 minutes. His previous match was at ACW Bluegrass Con in 2023, a multi-man bout with Caleb Konley, Beastman, Facade, and Matthew Justice.
Speaking in a WWE SummerSlam vlog built around his return, the SmackDown General Manager talked through how the match came about.
“I was more than happy to sort of dedicate myself to that position and to serve the people, I suppose, right? Or something to that effect,” Aldis said.
“But it doesn’t change the fact that anyone who’s in this business wants to prove that they belong on the big stage. So it’s like, I didn’t ask for it, right? I didn’t lobby for it. But I’m ready for it.”
Aldis also described the conditioning he put in beforehand.
“I’m so exhausted. Everyone says this, and I know it too. It just is what it is. I’ve been doing the hardest conditioning training I’ve ever done in my whole life to try to get ready for this. And I still felt like I was in quicksand the whole match. I was so tired.”
“It was physical, and it was rough, and it was emotional, which is what pro wrestling is to me. It’s violent theater. It’s Shakespeare with violence. We rile them up, and then we break their hearts.”