Overview
- At Madison Square Garden, CM Punk and Cody Rhodes defeated GUNTHER and Sami Zayn on Saturday when SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis pulled a referee out of the ring and struck GUNTHER with the title belt, allowing Rhodes to pin GUNTHER.
- A pre-match stipulation would have added GUNTHER and Zayn to Punk vs. Rhodes at SummerSlam if they won, but Aldis’ interference prevented that change and left the Undisputed WWE Championship match as Punk vs. Rhodes.
- The finish intensifies the Aldis–GUNTHER storyline after prior physical incidents between the two, making an Aldis vs. GUNTHER bout a likely focal point of the SummerSlam build.
- SNME used a compact four-match card to advance midcard plots: the Women’s Tag Team title defense, Danhausen’s No DQ match, and Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria all moved existing feuds forward while featuring a Jalen Brunson appearance with Roman Reigns.
- The show returned SNME to MSG for the first time since 2007 and streamed on Peacock in the U.S. with varied international windows, a choice that highlighted WWE’s short-term booking push ahead of SummerSlam.