Nick Aldis talks match at SummerSlam, being Smackdown GM, wrestling in TNA, and more

Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis sat down with Chris Van Vliet in Nashville, Tennessee to discuss his match against Gunther at SummerSlam, whether he thought a match in WWE was actually possible, how he became the General Manager of SmackDown, if he was considered to face Randy Orton at WrestleMania, if a match with Cody Rhodes might be possible in WWE, hilarious segments with Chelsea Green and R-Truth, wrestling AJ Styles and Sting in TNA, what happens after SummerSlam, and more!

How are you feeling?

“Good. I think the big nerves are still to come, obviously. But I think because I feel like I’ve got my body right, now I feel a bit more comfortable. In the beginning, when I first sort of realized that this was on the horizon, I think my biggest concern was my physical ability. I don’t mean my ability to execute a bodyslam. I mean my conditioning. I suppose I should take it as a compliment that upper management didn’t seem to have very much concern about that. But I was very concerned, and I remember saying to Ed Koskey, there’s a big difference between physique shape and ring shape, and I only have one of those right now.”

But you look enormous!

“Honestly, I say this with all sincerity. My focus for the last couple of weeks, or a little more than that, has been entirely on conditioning, performance and conditioning. You’re not going to make a whole lot of difference to your physique in four weeks. Obviously, you can make some significant dent in your body fat and you can tighten up. But I’m not going to add any muscle. I’m not going to make any drastic changes to my proportions or composition or anything, but the focus had to be on being able to go. I basically just decided, okay, whatever happens with the physique, it is what it is. The physique’s somewhat there, so I have to be able to go.”

Did you always have it in the back of your mind that a match in WWE might be possible?

“Yeah, might be, but that doesn’t mean that this one didn’t come as a total shock, because it did. You know what’s funny? There were two people when there were other moments where it looked like that might be on the cards. Two people that said to me, ‘You have to stay somewhat ready because they’re not gonna give you three months’ notice. You’re gonna get like a couple weeks.’ One was Mickie [James], and one was Randy [Orton]. Because last year at WrestleMania, a lot of people felt like maybe that was a possibility. Was never discussed with me, you know, and even Randy even kind of leaned toward it on TV. But like I said, I try to make a point to stay out of it in that respect. I didn’t lobby for anything. But I remember Randy talking to me at WrestleMania and kind of saying, you know, you need to stay ready, because it’s gonna happen, and they’re gonna do it like that. It’s gonna come out of nowhere.”

There was so much buzz online leading up to that WrestleMania 41 match with Randy Orton, his mystery opponent. Did you think it could have been you?

“Yeah, it could have been. I mean, could have been anyone. It was a great spot for Joe Hendry. I thought it was a really entertaining segment. It was a great piece of business for WrestleMania. But had they decided, hey, it’s there, that would have been great. But I will say, this has real meat on the bone. With Randy, that would have been cool, but it would have been very much like a sort of, oh, hey, let’s have a wrestling match kind of thing. It would have been nice, but it would have felt very sort of, you know. This has some genuine emotion.”

So how do you think you got this match with Gunther?

“I think that, and I have to tread carefully here because I certainly don’t want to ever try to speak on behalf of Triple H. But I think that maybe he looked at the landscape, looked at the possibilities, and decided I think there’s money in this over this guy or that guy as an opponent for Gunther. I only say that because that’s how I would look at it.”

Fans know there’s some history here with Cody, especially that match you’re talking about there [in NWA]. Does that history possibly come over here to WWE?

“Who knows? I think that we’ve already leaned into it from time to time anyway. Again, trying not to speak on Hunter’s behalf. I think his general philosophy, when it comes to that kind of thing, is if you know, you know. So we can’t make it the whole story, but it can be part of a story, which I think has been a healthy approach to his storytelling. I think you could say the same for some of the stuff you’ve seen with guys who were in the Bullet Club. There’s nods to it, but not you’re making it where you’re completely out of the know if you’re unfamiliar with what they’re referencing.”