Last week’s WWE SmackDown was one for the ages, as the WWE Universe in London, England, was treated to a war between Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn and the “Ring General” Gunther, heading into WWE Night of Champions 2026.
These three have a tremendous history with one another, as Cody Rhodes time and again would come out on top when faced with the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time. As for Zayn, he feels like he’s been shunned for too long, blaming Rhodes for his misfortunes.
In the Kingdom Arena, Sami Zayn would’ve finally slayed the man who is easy to find but hard to beat as he hoists up the Undisputed WWE Championship for the first time. Here’s how it went down.
Sami Zayn Reaches the Top of the Mountain at WWE Night of Champions 2026
On a tremendous episode of SmackDown, where we saw Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes test the mettle of the debuting Ricky Saints, Gunther would make his presence felt, not even allowing Rhodes to celebrate his victory as he proceeded to choke him out in front of the Friday Night Fight Night Crowd.
A week after that, Gunther was officially part of the SmackDown roster, with the help of the “Oracle” Paul Heyman playing middleman to bring the Ring General to Friday nights. That said, Gunther was extremely upset that Rhodes would crash his welcoming party, and for weeks, Rhodes hunted him down to get his signature for Clash in Italy, which he was forced to give when backed into a wall into a number one contender’s match against Royce Keys.
Then comes the WWE Clash in Italy. The atmosphere was palpable as the two of the best WWE has to offer would be leaving everything in the ring. Unfortunately for the “Ring General,” he faced his absolute nightmare as the match against Rhodes ended in controversy, prompting Gunther to go ballistic and demand a rematch. He was granted that rematch, but he wanted more. He wanted an insurance policy, thus naming Sami Zayn as special guest referee.
It’s well-documented that Sami Zayn has issues with Cody Rhodes as of late, even allowing Gunther to choke Rhodes out in the middle of the ring, as Sami watched willfully and walked away. That may have been the Ring General’s plan: use Zayn’s anger towards Cody to his advantage. Unfortunately, Zayn would be the very reason he lost, setting up the Triple Threat Match for the Undisputed WWE Title in Riyadh.
In a match of the year candidate, Cody Rhodes, Gunther, and Sami Zayn went all out. No one knew how this would end up, as all three had their moments. On more than one occasion, Cody Rhodes has both Zayn and Gunther. However, Gunther and Sami would try to one-up each other, and at every turn would pull the referee out of the ring to continue the match.
Gunther hit Multiple Powerbombs, and time and again, Rhodes and Zayn would kick out. At one point, Gunther had the Sleeper Hold in as Rhodes would fade away, but Zayn would come for the save, despite getting Back Bodydropped onto the announcer’s table. Late in the match, Zayn would get offense in and hit the Exploder Suplex and hit Helluva Kick on Gunther.
The Ring General would not die and kick out. Gunther would get Zayn in the Sleeper Hold, only to eat a Cody Cutter from Rhodes. Zayn would fight back, take out Rhodes, and lock Gunther into the Sleeper Hold. Rhodes would hit Cross Rhodes on Zayn while he still had the Sleeper on Gunther. Then, Cody followed it up with one more Cross Rhodes to Zayn and held on for a second one. Unfortunately, Cody miscalculated, Zayn would roll through and nab the pin to become the Undisputed WWE Champion on his 10th try at WWE Night of Champions 2026.
The Cody Rhodes era of SmackDown has now officially come to an end, and in devastating fashion no less. Now that Sami Zayn is the #AndNEW Undisputed WWE Champion, he finally has a version of a storybook-ending, as he joins the ranks of the elite in WWE history and becomes World Champion. What was once an afterthought is now your Undisputed WWE Champion.
