Posted on 7/30/126 by DMV Wrestling News
Nick Aldis is wrestling Gunther at SummerSlam, and that
makes me care a lot more about the show.
I was already going to follow SummerSlam. It is one of WWE’s
biggest events, and there are matches and storylines that
interest me. Danhausen has also been one of the few bright
spots in a WWE product that has bored me too often lately.
Aldis gives me a more personal reason to care.
My interest in him goes back to 2019, when I watched NWA
Powerrr for the first time. I had followed wrestling closely
in the past, but my interest had faded. Billy Corgan’s
version of the National Wrestling Alliance caught my
attention in a way other wrestling had not.
Nick Aldis was a major reason why.
Aldis was the NWA world heavyweight champion and came across
as an old-school heel champion. He wore the suits, carried
himself with confidence and acted as though he was better
than every wrestler trying to take the title from him.
He was polished, arrogant and believable. The championship
felt like an important part of who he was, not something he
happened to carry to the ring.
The Corgan-era NWA drew heavily from wrestling history, but
Aldis helped keep it from feeling like a nostalgia act. He
carried himself like the man everyone else had to chase. He
made the NWA world title feel important because he treated
it that way.
Aldis was not the only wrestler I enjoyed during that
period, and I am not arguing that he alone brought me back.
He was simply the wrestler who stood out at the right time.
His version of the NWA champion gave me something familiar
enough to recognize and strong enough to care about.
As I have written before, Corgan’s NWA reignited my love of
professional wrestling. Watching Powerrr pulled me deeper
into the promotion and eventually helped put me on the path
that led to DMV Wrestling News.
Aldis was at the center of that experience.
That renewed interest soon brought me back to a live
wrestling show.
On February 9, 2020, I attended Ring of Honor’s Free
Enterprise at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore. It was the
first modern professional wrestling show I attended.
I went because Nick Aldis was appearing.
Aldis teamed with Rush against Ring of Honor world champion
PCO and Marty Scurll in the main event. There were other
parts of the show I enjoyed, but Aldis was the reason I
bought a ticket. His work in the NWA had made me interested
enough to see him wrestle in person.
Free Enterprise took place only weeks before COVID-19 shut
down live wrestling. The pandemic changed the wrestling
business and interrupted plans involving Aldis, the NWA and
Ring of Honor.
After live events returned, I began attending independent
wrestling shows around the region. That eventually led me to
start DMV Wrestling News and later receive media credentials
from promotions including the NWA, New Japan Pro-Wrestling
and Major League Wrestling.
I trace much of that back to watching Aldis in the NWA. He
was one of the wrestlers who made professional wrestling
matter to me again and helped turn renewed interest into
something lasting.
Aldis left the NWA at the end of 2022. He returned to Impact
Wrestling, now TNA Wrestling, at Rebellion in April 2023 and
soon challenged Alex Shelley for the Impact world
championship at Slammiversary.
It was a return to a company where he had spent an important
part of his career. Wrestling as Magnus, Aldis became the
TNA world heavyweight champion before his later run at the
top of the NWA. He is also married to Mickie James, whose
career includes major runs in WWE and TNA.
Aldis began working with WWE as a backstage producer in
August 2023. At the time, he made it clear that he still
considered himself an active wrestler.
When WWE named him general manager of SmackDown that
October, I hoped the on-screen role would eventually lead to
him getting in the ring.
He has done well as general manager. Aldis has the presence
and credibility to stand across from WWE’s biggest stars
without looking out of place. He sounds like someone in
charge and carries himself like someone the wrestlers should
take seriously.
I still wanted to see him wrestle.
For many WWE fans, Nick Aldis is the well-dressed authority
figure who announces matches, handles disputes and
occasionally confronts a wrestler who has gone too far.
They have not seen the version of Aldis that first caught my
attention.
They did not see him at the center of the revived NWA,
carrying its world championship as an old-school heel and
making a small studio wrestling program feel important. Some
may not remember his time as Magnus in TNA or his brief
return to Impact before joining WWE.
They may not understand why some of us already saw him as a
legitimate world champion before WWE put him behind a desk.
That is one reason his match with Gunther has my attention.
Gunther has been presented as one of WWE’s most dangerous
wrestlers. Aldis is not getting an easy opponent for his
first WWE match. He is stepping into the ring with someone
who can immediately test whether he can still perform at
that level.
Gunther has built his reputation through physical matches
and a serious approach to wrestling. Aldis built much of his
reputation by carrying himself like a world champion and
understanding the psychology of that role.
Neither man needs a complicated story to make the match
interesting.
There have been reports that WWE will pay close attention to
how fans respond to Aldis. Even without that report, it is
reasonable to believe that his performance and the audience
reaction could influence whether WWE gives him more matches
or returns him to the general manager role.
That gives the match added stakes. Aldis may be getting the
opportunity to show WWE that fans want to see him as more
than the SmackDown general manager.
I have wanted to see Aldis wrestle in WWE since he arrived
in 2023. At SummerSlam, he finally gets that opportunity
against one of the company’s best opponents.
If WWE is watching to see how fans respond, I hope they
notice that some of us have been waiting for this match for
years.