13 New Directions For WWE After SummerSlam 2026

Well, that comeback bout with Gunther went about as well as could be expected. It might’ve actually surpassed expectations for some who only knew Nick as a GM and not as a wrestler. Summing things up and making sure to put Aldis over on his way out, Gunther said this post-match on the ring apron: “Hey, that was a lot harder than I expected. It really was!”.

Smart move, 'Ring General'.

Aldis will return to his SmackDown GM role, but this first ever WWE bout was a good sign that further matches are incoming here or there. If not, then at least he got to live out a dream of working a major WWE PLE like SummerSlam, and he got a standing ovation afterwards. There were healthy chants of, “You’ve still got it”, then Nick was embraced by Mickie James and his son Donovan.

WWE even forked over some cash to get Oasis ‘Morning Glory’ as his entrance track, and that's fairly unheard of. CM Punk had to restructure his contract to get a track from the wild as his tune!

There's no disgrace in Aldis losing to the sleeper that’s taken out countless heroes either. A post-show segment with Triple H reinstated Nick as blue brand GM, then he seemed to squash the heat with Gunther by putting him in a contendership battle on Sunday night. That was another smart call, because it closes the book on their feud.

There's nothing stopping Nick from finding another malcontent heading into next year's WrestleMania. Working that show would be another ambition fulfilled for the guy.