Nick Aldis is emotional heading into “The Biggest Party of the Summer.”
Why?
Because the stakes are just a bit bigger for him than anyone else in WWE right now, as the former SmackDown General Manager voluntarily gave up his authority figure role for one shot in the ring in what will actually be his WWE in-ring debut at WWE SummerSlam 2026 this weekend.
Ahead of the big showdown against “The Career-Killer” GUNTHER, Aldis, the former NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion for over 1,000 days, sat down with Chris Van Vliet for an in-depth interview.
And it got emotional.
Near the end of the hour-plus sit-down discussion, Aldis got significantly choked up and began crying while talking about how much it means to him that he doesn’t let the pro wrestling fans down this weekend in “The Twin Cities.”
“I hope that I I hope that I don’t let people down,” Aldis said when Van Vliet said he’s really excited to see how the match plays out. He then mentioned how Aldis likely has big expectations for the match, possibly more so than the fans.
“Yeah, I do,” he responded. “Yeah, I mean, it’s my It’s my one shot, you know? Sorry [he began choking up at this moment] … God.”
Aldis then referenced how his wife, Mickie James, also teared up during a past interview with Van Vliet.
“Damn you,” he said with a smirk. “First you got Mickie, now you got me!”
He then dug a bit deeper into what was driving the emotions he was feeling in this moment.
“It’s been a…I’m uh I’ve been working very hard,” he said. “I hope it pays off. I’m sure it will. I just hope that um I hope that when it’s all said and done that the people appreciate how hard this was and I gave it everything I had. Not everybody gets this opportunity.”
Nick Aldis vs. Gunther is scheduled to take place as night one of the two-night WWE SummerSlam 2026 premium live event, which goes down this Saturday, August 1, live from US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN.
Make sure to join us here at WrestlingHeadlines.com on 8/1 and 8/2 for live WWE SummerSlam 2026 Results coverage.
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