WWE star makes a huge return in SmackDown main event between Cody Rhodes & Gunther

The SmackDown main event was the equivalent of a Premium Live Event main event as Cody Rhodes faced Gunther in a huge grudge match. During the bout, a WWE star made a huge return.

As Gunther made his entrance for the main event, Cody Rhodes attacked him in an act of revenge. During the match itself, CM Punk came out to keep a check on The Ring General. CM Punk had expressed his dissatisfaction at Adam Pearce announcing that if Gunther and Sami Zayn win, they will be added to the WWE title match at SummerSlam 2026. He was also not pleased with Cody for taking on a match just one night before their high-stakes headliner at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

With a little under four minutes remaining before the show came to a close, Sami Zayn returned and took Punk out in an act of vengeance. Things broke down into a DQ finish, and SmackDown went off the air with Gunther and Sami Zayn brawling with CM Punk and Cody Rhodes.

Gunther and Sami Zayn are far from friends. In fact, it was Sami Zayn who dethroned Gunther a couple of years ago to end his record-breaking reign as the Intercontinental Champion. However, they are now on the same page and will be extra motivated to make sure that they get an entry into the WWE title picture at SummerSlam.

Still, Sami Zayn is far from a bad guy. He was simply resentful of CM Punk for dethroning him because he likely felt it was unfair that he had to defend his WWE Championship on a show he didn’t even belong to. The entire sequence of events has been crazy, and this was the kind of explosive end that was needed on SmackDown, as little else of substance occurred on the show.