Charlotte Flair is not the headline here, but the assignment is: Gunther will have Sami Zayn referee next week’s title match against Cody Rhodes. That choice came after a backstage exchange that turned physical and made the setup harder to read than a standard title program.
Gunther told Aldis he wanted to pick the referee for his match with Rhodes. On the same episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown, the show also wrapped the King and Queen of the Ring qualifiers, but the referee decision was the sharper development because it changes who controls the pace and the count in a match already set as a rematch from Clash in Italy.
Providence and the title setup
WWE Friday Night SmackDown was live from Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island, where Rhodes walked into the arena with his world title at the start of the show. Jey Uso had already told Rhodes that he would face him for the title after he won the KOTR tourney, which kept the championship picture crowded even before Gunther made his move.
That backdrop matters because the Rhodes-Gunther meeting was not being built in a vacuum. It was already positioned as a rematch from Clash in Italy, and Gunther’s decision to name the referee gave the match a more personal edge without changing the fact that Rhodes remains the man carrying the title into next week.
Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes
Backstage, Sami Zayn refused Rhodes’ handshake. Rhodes called him “whiny,” said he was “not the Sami” fans fell in love with, and then called him “desperate.” Zayn slapped Rhodes across the face, Rhodes slapped him back, and Zayn later returned to the apron with a chair in his hand before throwing the chair and walking away.
That sequence is the part to watch because it explains why Gunther’s choice lands the way it does. Zayn is not being brought in as a neutral placeholder; he is being inserted into a feud where he already exchanged slaps with Rhodes, which makes the referee assignment feel less like procedure and more like leverage.
Gunther and Aldis
Gunther later approached Aldis and informed him that Sami Zayn would be the referee for next week’s title match. It is a clean escalation: Gunther first said he wanted to pick the referee, then used Zayn’s involvement to put one more layer between himself and Rhodes before next week’s title match.
For readers tracking the match rather than the noise around it, the practical takeaway is simple. Rhodes and Gunther are still headed for next week, but Zayn is now inside the finish, and that makes every call, pause, and reset part of the story instead of background to it.
