Nick Aldis will make his long-awaited return to the ring when he faces Gunther at SummerSlam.
The match was officially announced during WWE’s SummerSlam Kickoff event at Fanatics Fest in New York following a confrontation involving the two men and WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H.
The segment began with Gunther confronting Triple H over events at Saturday Night’s Main Event, where Nick Aldis struck him with the World Heavyweight Championship belt, costing Gunther and Sami Zayn their tag team match against Cody Rhodes and CM Punk.
Aldis then interrupted the confrontation, leading to a brawl between the former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion and the Ring General before officials stepped in.
With tensions boiling over, Triple H made the match official for SummerSlam.
“This is the WWE. What do we do? We get in the ring, we settle our differences. So at SummerSlam, it will be the Ring General Gunther versus Nick Aldis. You guys will settle this once and for all at SummerSlam,” Triple H said.
You wanna fight?! You got a fight!!
GUNTHER vs. NICK ALDIS at #SummerSlam!!@TripleHpic.twitter.com/Lggj2BTHKJ
— WWE (@WWE) July 19, 2026
SummerSlam will take place on August 1 and 2 at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
SummerSlam Will See Nick Aldis Have His First Match In Nearly Three Years
The bout will mark Nick Aldis’ first match since 2023. His last appearance in the ring came at an Appalachian Championship Wrestling event in Kentucky, while his most recent televised match took place at the July 16, 2023 TNA Impact television tapings, where he was defeated by Eric Young.
Aldis has served as SmackDown General Manager since joining WWE in 2023, making this his first WWE match since signing with the company.
