Cody Rhodes and Gunther leave SmackDown without a decisive finish
SmackDown did more than promote Saturday Night’s Main Event. It made one tag-team result capable of redrawing WWE’s two most important SummerSlam title stories.
The central change came when Adam Pearce confirmed that Gunther and Sami Zayn will enter the SummerSlam WWE Championship match if they defeat CM Punk and Cody Rhodes. That stipulation turns Saturday Night’s Main Event from a stand-alone attraction into a direct gateway to a potential Fatal 4-Way. It also gives all four men different reasons to fear the same result: Punk and Rhodes could lose control of their singles title match, while Gunther and Zayn must cooperate despite the tension surrounding their partnership.
Rhodes’ decision to face Gunther before the tag match was presented as reckless, and the main event justified CM Punk’s concern. Punk came to ringside, Sami Zayn attacked him, and Zayn’s involvement eventually forced the official to throw out Rhodes versus Gunther. WWE officially recorded the bout as a no-contest before all four men ended the show in a brawl.
The finish avoided giving away a decisive singles result while demonstrating how unstable the Saturday Night’s Main Event pairing has become. Rhodes and Punk acted as allies, but the SummerSlam championship already sits between them. Gunther and Zayn, meanwhile, were effective as disruptors without being shown as a settled team. Takeaway: the segment raised the stakes without resolving the conflict. Grade: B+.
Rhea Ripley’s torn meniscus created the night’s other major development. With Ripley unable to compete at SummerSlam, Pearce announced a five-woman ladder match to crown an interim WWE Women’s Champion. Tiffany Stratton became the first qualifier by defeating Jacy Jayne, while Jade Cargill advanced through disqualification after Charlotte Flair attacked her during the match against Nia Jax.
Those results produced two very different kinds of momentum. Stratton earned a clean place in the ladder match aft
