WWE WrestlePalooza 2025 Retro Review: Every Match Rated and Revisited

WWE WrestlePalooza 2025 took place on September 20, 2025, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, in front of 15,176 fans. It was a big night for the company because it was WWE's first main roster show streamed live on ESPN's new direct-to-consumer service in the United States, after the Peacock deal ended with Clash in Paris. Outside the US, the show streamed on Netflix. The name came from the old ECW event, last held in 2000, which made this the fifth WrestlePalooza and the first one run by WWE.

ESPN pushed the show hard. There was a preview special on ESPN2 the night before and a two-hour "Road to WrestlePalooza" pre-show hosted by O'Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson, and Drake's "Nokia" was the official theme song. The card had only five matches, but almost every one of them had a big name or a big storyline: a dream match from the past, a vacant world title, a long-awaited in-ring return and the Undisputed WWE Championship in the main event. Michael Cole and Wade Barrett called the show, with Pat McAfee joining them for the first three matches.

The build

• Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena: Lesnar came back at SummerSlam and attacked Cena after Cena lost the Undisputed WWE Championship. On the September 5 SmackDown he interfered in Cena's match and attacked him again, and the match was made official. It was Lesnar's first match in two years, in the middle of Cena's farewell year.
• The Usos vs. The Vision: Jey Uso had been fighting Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed since WrestleMania 41. Raw General Manager Adam Pearce made the match between the Usos and Breakker and Reed, with LA Knight as the special guest referee.
• IYO SKY vs. Stephanie Vaquer: Naomi gave up the Women's World Championship after announcing her pregnancy. Vaquer had won the Evolution battle royal, and Pearce booked her against SKY for the vacant title.
• CM Punk & AJ Lee vs. Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch: Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Punk at SummerSlam, and Lynch later attacked Punk. That brought Punk's wife AJ Lee back to WWE for the first time in about a decade, and the mixed tag match was set.
• Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre: McIntyre attacked Rhodes with the title belt in August. After Rhodes helped Randy Orton in September, McIntyre got his title shot. McIntyre also hit Rhodes with a Claymore on SmackDown the night before the show.

Match by match

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena

Triple H opened the night from the ring and welcomed the new ESPN audience. Then WWE went straight to a dream match between Brock Lesnar and John Cena. Lesnar came out first. Cena followed to a huge reaction, with a group of kids by his side wearing his new shirt in Indiana Pacers colours. Then Paul Heyman walked out and gave Lesnar his famous ring introduction, his first since Day 1 in January 2022. For long-time fans, that moment alone was a treat.

The match itself was all Lesnar. He attacked at the bell with shoulder strikes in the corner and clotheslines, then threw Cena around with a powerslam and suplexes. Cena fought back with his shoulder blocks and hit three Attitude Adjustments, but Lesnar kicked out. When Cena set up the Five Knuckle Shuffle, Lesnar got up and hit a string of F5s to win. After the bell he gave an F5 to the referee and one more to Cena, and left the crowd in shock. The whole thing lasted 8:50.

We think the match was far too short for two legends. Lesnar returning after two years and going straight after Cena with real aggression made sense as a story, and the Heyman introduction was a great piece of pageantry. But for us, turning it into a near squash was a bad decision. Fans expected a proper back-and-forth fight on Cena's farewell run, and this was his only chance to face Lesnar one more time on a show of this size. Cena got three big moves and very little else. It felt more like the first chapter of a feud than a dream match, and on such a big stage it was a wasted opportunity. Our rating: ★★

The Usos vs. The Vision (Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed)

Next, Jimmy and Jey Uso reunited to face Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed, who had Paul Heyman with them. LA Knight was the special guest referee. Before their entrance, the Usos asked the crowd to get their phones out, then restarted their entrance to "show ESPN" how WWE does it. The crowd played along. It was a fun idea, but CBS Sports criticised how long the whole entrance took.

Knight let a lot go, including chairs and tables, and he kept clashing with all four men. The Vision controlled the early part with power moves on Jimmy, while Reed kept bringing chairs into the ring and Knight kept taking them away. Jey cleaned house later and hit an Uso Splash, but Breakker kicked out, and a 1D on Breakker was broken up by Reed. Near the finish, Jey's suicide dive meant for Knight hit Reed instead. Heyman slid a chair to Breakker, Jey took it, and Jey was busted open in the chaos. Breakker then speared both Usos through a table, and Reed hit a Tsunami on Jey from the top rope to win in 17:12. Afterwards Knight refused to raise The Vision's hands, so Heyman did it himself.

We think the time was just right for a tag match. Giving it 17 minutes let Breakker and Reed look like unstoppable monsters, and the double spear through the table was the kind of spot that makes a new team feel dangerous. The action moved quickly, and the moments with Knight as referee kept the crowd engaged, because nobody knew which side he would end up on. Not everyone agreed: ESPN's review called the first half sluggish and the finish disjointed. For us it was a strong, smartly built tag match, and the result was the right one for The Vision's push. Our rating: ★★★¾

Women's World Championship: IYO SKY vs. Stephanie Vaquer

The Women's World Championship was vacant, so IYO SKY and Stephanie Vaquer met to crown a new champion. The two shook hands before the bell and started with fast mat wrestling and roll-ups. SKY hit a missile dropkick off the top, and Vaquer replied with a crossbody from the top rope to the floor. As the match went on, Vaquer started working on SKY's knee, including dragon screw leg whips, and the crowd chanted "this is awesome".

The closing stretch was excellent. Vaquer blocked SKY's Over the Moonsault, hit Devil's Kiss and the SVB, and SKY kicked out. SKY answered with a Spanish Fly from the top rope, and Vaquer kicked out of that. But SKY's knee slowed her down. When she climbed for the Over the Moonsault again, Vaquer rolled out of the way and hit her corkscrew finish (reported as the Spiral Tap or Tornillo) to win the title in 20:11. Afterwards the two hugged, and Vaquer celebrated with her father in the front row.

Just over 20 minutes gave both women the perfect canvas to show their skills. We think this was clearly the match of the night. The ring work was smooth from start to finish, the knee story gave the near falls meaning, and the finish came from that story instead of from nowhere. Reviewers agreed: ESPN said this match saved the show from being average. It also did a job for the future. A clean win over a former champion like SKY, after 20 minutes, proved that Vaquer was ready to be a main event star in WWE. Our rating: ★★★★¼

Mixed tag team match: CM Punk & AJ Lee vs. Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch

This was a deeply personal feud between two real-life couples. Rollins and Lynch came out in matching purple gear, lowered from a platform at the top of the stage. Punk wore an "AJ's husband" jacket, and AJ Lee skipped down the ramp in her first match in about ten years.

Under mixed tag rules, men could only fight men and women could only fight women, and Rollins and Lynch used that to keep Lee out. They isolated Punk for a long stretch, and when Lee did get a tag, the referee did not see it. Finally Punk hit a GTS on Rollins and tagged Lee in, and the crowd erupted. Lee went after Lynch with strikes and a crossbody, then hit a Tornado DDT on Lynch using Rollins as a launch pad. Later the rules broke down: Punk and Lynch traded Sharpshooters, Lee even hit Rollins with a Curb Stomp, and Rollins and Lynch hit double Pedigrees for near falls. The four fought on the announce tables, and one gave way under Punk and Rollins after Lynch threw Lee into them. Back in the ring, Lynch went for the Manhandle Slam, but Lee reversed it into the Black Widow and Lynch tapped out at 29:18.

We feel it was slightly too long at nearly 29 minutes, and it lost some momentum in the middle while the heels kept Lee on the apron. But in our view, Lee's return after a decade made it worth sitting through. The ending was booked very well: the crowd waited a long time for her, and she got the submission win over one of the top women of her era. The crowd was screaming for it. Our rating: ★★★¾

Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Drew McIntyre

In the main event, Cody Rhodes defended the Undisputed WWE Championship against a furious Drew McIntyre. Rhodes started fast with a slap and an early Cody Cutter, but McIntyre took over on the outside. He threw Rhodes into the ring post and over the announce desk, and hit an Alabama Slam onto the ring steps. McIntyre also hit White Noise from the middle rope and rammed Rhodes into an exposed turnbuckle. One roll-up went on for a long time because the referee had moved out of the way, so it did not end the match.

Late on, Rhodes hit Cross Rhodes for a near fall, and McIntyre answered with a Claymore Kick that Rhodes also kicked out of. When McIntyre tried another Claymore on the outside, Rhodes moved, and McIntyre's leg went through the front of the announce table. Hobbling, McIntyre took a Cody Cutter and a Cross Rhodes, and Rhodes retained in 17:17. Doctors checked McIntyre's leg after the match.

We think about 17 minutes was the exact right length for this main event. They did not waste time with slow rest holds, and the storytelling stayed intense from start to finish. The leg injury angle made sense: it protected McIntyre, who looked like he was winning, while still giving Rhodes a solid victory. Some reviewers felt it played more like a SmackDown main event than the top of a Premium Live Event, and it was not as big as the mixed tag before it. For us it was a good, honest title match. Our rating: ★★★¾

Beyond the matches

• Triple H and the ESPN welcome: the show opened with a video on the history of WWE and ESPN, then Triple H welcomed fans from the ring. Pat McAfee was shown arriving and joined commentary for the first three matches.
• The Undertaker and Stephanie McMahon: before the main event, The Undertaker made his entrance and sat with Stephanie McMahon in the crowd. He announced her as the first inductee into the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame, and the two hugged as the crowd cheered. We think placing this right after a nearly 30-minute mixed tag was smart, because it reset the arena's energy before the main event. It was the top non-wrestling moment of the night, and we would rate the segment ★★★★.
• ESPN production: the pre-show was hosted by O'Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson, and the pre- and post-show panel included Joe Tessitore, Jackie Redmond, Big E, Peter Rosenberg and Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton.
• Carriage problems: several big TV providers in the US, including YouTube TV, Xfinity, Dish, Cox and Altice, had no deal with ESPN's service at launch, so some fans could not watch through their provider.
• Injuries told on screen: SKY's knee and McIntyre's leg were both worked into the finishes of their matches.

The verdict: does it hold up today?

Mostly, yes. WrestlePalooza 2025 was a good show to start the ESPN era. The opening match was disappointing because it was so short, and it is the one part of the night that has aged badly. But the rest of the card delivered good wrestling and strong storytelling. The women's title match is the reason to go back, AJ Lee's return is a moment worth seeing, and the tag match and the main event are both solid. If you have only 20 minutes, watch Vaquer vs. SKY.

• Best match: IYO SKY vs. Stephanie Vaquer
• Worst match: Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena, a dream match cut down to under nine minutes
• Overall: 3.5 out of 5

Full results and our ratings

What happened next

• On the post-show, Seth Rollins confronted Cody Rhodes. That set up the men's Crown Jewel Championship match at Crown Jewel in Perth, which Triple H confirmed.
• In the following days, Stephanie Vaquer thanked the fans, and a Crown Jewel match against WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton was announced.
• The feud between the Usos and The Vision went on. A week after WrestlePalooza, the Usos beat Breakker and Reed in a tornado tag match after Roman Reigns returned and got involved.
• Drew McIntyre ranted about his loss and was attacked by Jacob Fatu, and a Rhodes vs. McIntyre rematch was later set for Saturday Night's Main Event XLI.
• Despite the strong women's title match, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter named WrestlePalooza its worst event of 2025.

More retro reviews

Our Crown Jewel series, rated out of 5:

• Crown Jewel 2025: ★★★★ (4 out of 5), the first Crown Jewel outside Saudi Arabia
• Crown Jewel 2024: ★★½ (2.5 out of 5), the first Crown Jewel Championships
• Crown Jewel 2023: ★★½ (2.5 out of 5), Rollins vs. McIntyre and Reigns vs. LA Knight
• Crown Jewel 2022: ★★★½ (3.5 out of 5), Reigns vs. Logan Paul and a Last Woman Standing match
• Crown Jewel 2021: ★★★★ (4 out of 5), Hell in a Cell and a loaded card
• Crown Jewel 2019: ★★ (2 out of 5), celebrities and the first women's match in Saudi Arabia
• Crown Jewel 2018: ★½ (1.5 out of 5), the first one, and the World Cup

Other classic shows we have revisited:

• WrestleMania XL: ★★★★½ (4.5 out of 5), two nights in Philadelphia, The Rock and the end of the Bloodline story
• WrestleMania 39: ★★★★½ (4.5 out of 5), two nights in Hollywood and Reigns vs. Rhodes, part one
• SummerSlam 2025: ★★★★ (4 out of 5), the first two-night SummerSlam and John Cena's last one
• Money in the Bank 2016: ★★★★ (4 out of 5), Cena vs. AJ, a great ladder match and Reigns vs. Rollins
• WrestleMania 41: ★★★½ (3.5 out of 5), Cena's farewell year and a Heyman story in Las Vegas

See them all on our Retro Reviews page, and read our Crown Jewel 2026 preview.