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Nick Aldis and Gunther brought the house down Saturday at WWE SummerSlam 2026 Night 1 in U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Despite great waves of back-and-forth moments, Aldis fell short in his in-ring WWE debut, succumbing to Gunther's sleeper hold submission.
The technical work began right away to shake off Aldis' rust. The crowd was fully behind the now-former "SmackDown" general manager, as he exchanged shoulder tackles and worked out of headlocks. It didn't quite fit the animosity of the story he and Gunther had built, but made sense for the situation.
After Gunther's first chop, Aldis fired back with big punches and showed off his strength by catching Gunther and adjusting him mid-air for a suplex. Gunther regained control by chopping Aldis off the top rope to the outside and slamming him into the ring post. With Aldis' wife, Mickie James, and their son ringside, Gunther made sure to showboat in their faces before the action reentered the ring.
Aldis was forced to fight back from a series of chops, as he continued to pursue his Kingsland Cloverleaf submission. Gunther found the sleeper hold after one of Aldis' attempts, but Aldis fought out by spiking Gunther into the corner. From there, they went up top with Gunther taking a big superplex.
A stiff chop exchange led to a massive clothesline exchange, before Aldis planted Gunther for a near-fall off a running powerslam. Aldis hit a scoop slam and went up top for a big pair of diving elbow drops. That led to the Kingsland Cloverleaf getting locked in for the first time in a match in three years. The crowd went wild, as Aldis brought Gunther to the middle of the ring — until Gunther worked his way to the rope break.
Aldis countered a sleeper with a sleeper of his own, but took a German suplex counter into a powerbomb for a near-fall.
Gunther reapplied the sleeper hold and got his hooks in. Aldis fought his way up once more, only to fall again and tap out, ending an impressive debut.
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The technical work began right away to shake off Aldis' rust. The crowd was fully behind the now-former "SmackDown" general manager, as he exchanged shoulder tackles and worked out of headlocks. It didn't quite fit the animosity of the story he and Gunther had built, but made sense for the situation.
After Gunther's first chop, Aldis fired back with big punches and showed off his strength by catching Gunther and adjusting him mid-air for a suplex. Gunther regained control by chopping Aldis off the top rope to the outside and slamming him into the ring post. With Aldis' wife, Mickie James, and their son ringside, Gunther made sure to showboat in their faces before the action reentered the ring.
Aldis was forced to fight back from a series of chops, as he continued to pursue his Kingsland Cloverleaf submission. Gunther found the sleeper hold after one of Aldis' attempts, but Aldis fought out by spiking Gunther into the corner. From there, they went up top with Gunther taking a big superplex.
A stiff chop exchange led to a massive clothesline exchange, before Aldis planted Gunther for a near-fall off a running powerslam. Aldis hit a scoop slam and went up top for a big pair of diving elbow drops. That led to the Kingsland Cloverleaf getting locked in for the first time in a match in three years. The crowd went wild, as Aldis brought Gunther to the middle of the ring — until Gunther worked his way to the rope break.
Aldis countered a sleeper with a sleeper of his own, but took a German suplex counter into a powerbomb for a near-fall.
Gunther reapplied the sleeper hold and got his hooks in. Aldis fought his way up once more, only to fall again and tap out, ending an impressive debut.
Check out full WWE SummerSlam 2026 Night 1 results, highlights and match-by-match updates here.
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