Nick Aldis is not angling for an in-ring return, but doesn’t rule it out.
The Smackdown General Manager hasn’t wrestled for the WWE since joining the company in October last year. However, he has had an accomplished in-ring career outside of the WWE. He is a former TNA and NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
The former Gladiators star has been used in a non-wrestling role since debuting last year. He has been Adam Pearce’s counterpart on Smackdown. There has been speculation about when Aldis may step back into the ring. The Englishman has waded into the debate in a recent interview.
Nick Aldis spoke with Gorilla Position (via POST Wrestling), and was asked if he would wrestle for the WWE. Aldis didn’t say one way or the other, but left the door open for a match if it is the best thing for the company. However, he said he is not in Triple H’s ear asking for a match.
“It’s tough to answer this, just simply because I don’t ever want to give the impression that I’m trying to sort of angle for something, right?” he said. “I’m certainly not trying to go into business for myself or anything like that. But it’s unavoidable, I’ve seen a ton of sentiment from fans like ‘We want to see you wrestle this guy, we want to see you versus that guy.’ I appreciate all that, that’s not something that I have any control or influence over, right? It’s very much a case of like I said when Paul [Levesque] and I first started speaking, I made it very clear that I want to be part of the team, I want to contribute in whatever way you think is best. If at some point that way [wrestling] ends up being the best then great.”
Nick Aldis: GM Conversation Was Shortest Of My Career
Nick Aldis went on to explain how easy it was to decide to sign for WWE as the general manager of Smackdown. He explained how his goal in the NWA was to become the best champion in history.
However, with how dead the brand was, he knew there was no chance of him surpassing a legend like Ric Flair. That helped him decide to make the move to the WWE last year.
“The GM conversation was the shortest conversation in my career. “Bruce [Prichard] called me and was like ‘General Manager of Smackdown?’ I said ‘Great, when do I start?’ They sort of laid out the terms and the money and all that kind of thing and I was like ‘Great, all sounds great. Let’s do it.’ I just immediately said to my wife ‘I’m gonna try to be the best GM of all time.’ That’s all you can do.”
“When I was presented with the opportunity to be part of the NWA when no one was talking about it. It was a completely dead brand. I went ‘Ok, if I’m going to do it, I’m going to try to be the best NWA champ of all time.’ You’re not going to be, you’re not going to surpass [Ric] Flair, or Harley [Race] or Dusty [Rhodes]. But if you’re not intending to be the very best, it’s like you’re just not gonna succeed on any level.”
