The John Report: WWE Wrestlepalooza 2025 Live Review
This is WWE Wrestlepalooza, featuring Brock Lesnar facing John Cena, Cody Rhodes against Drew McIntyre, a Seth Rollins/Becky Lynch against CM Punk/AJ Lee tag, and more.
It’s a busy wrestling day with the first-ever WWE Wrestlepalooza PLE taking place on the same day as AEW All Out. Since AEW moved their show to earlier in the day, the shows weren’t going head-to-head.
The card has five matches, even though I think WWE PLEs should have at least six matches, or even sometimes. The roster is so good, and they could fit more than five matches on a 3.5-hour show. It feels like a bigger-than-usual show because it’s the beginning of WWE PLEs airing on ESPN for fans in the US. For those of us outside of the US, we use Netflix depending on what deal your country has.
There was a two-hour Wrestlepalooza Countdown Show on WWE’s YouTube channel, but I don’t review those shows. I am watching on Netflix in Canada. Let’s get to the main show.
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WWE Wrestlepalooza
From Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana
Saturday, September 20, 2025
There was some backstage walking shown of the superstars in action on this show.
A video package aired showing some WWE history, along with ESPN history, to signify the start of the new WWE-ESPN partnership for those of you in the US. It showed past WWE-ESPN interactions. Triple H spoke into the camera: “Sports is entertainment. Always has been, always has been.” That wrapped it up.
Triple H was in the ring for a promo saying what you are about to witness is the final form of sports and entertainment. Triple H welcomed the first timers to WWE, to ESPN and to Wrestlepalooza. A pyro display went off by the entrance after that.
Analysis: WWE really loves this ESPN deal, huh? I get it. Money makes people happy and maybe the ESPN exposure will grow WWE as well. It just feels like a lot of ass kissing.
Michael Cole and Wade Barrett were at ringside on commentary to welcome us to the show. Welcome back to Wade after a few weeks off.
Pat McAfee was shown arriving in a truck along with Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers. They hugged. Triple H hugged Pat backstage, and Pat made his entrance to a huge ovation since he makes his home in Indiana. I noticed WWE President Nick Khan at ringside. Pat joined the commentary team for the show. Cole was so excited to see Pat back. The fans were cheering.
Analysis: Welcome back to Pat McAfee after being away from WWE for about three months. I’m not the biggest McAfee fan, but he is a guy who’s full of energy, and he is liked by a lot of people.
Brock Lesnar made his entrance looking massive for his first match in over two years. The announcers referenced Lesnar destroying Corey Graves with two F5’s on SmackDown last night.
John Cena made his entrance to a huge ovation and he had about 30 kids with him on stage. I don’t know how many there were exactly, but they were all in Cena gear and doing his “You Can’t See Me” hand gesture into the camera. Cena thanked the kids and ran down to the ring to start the match. A stat said that Cena is 2-4 in singles matches against Lesnar and Cena has 99 wins in PLE matches. Alicia Taylor did the introductions for the match. There were, “Let’s Go Cena-Cena Sucks” chants from the crowd. Taylor introduced Cena as the greatest of all time, the never seen 17, celebrating with you in Indianapolis one final time, the last real champion…John Cena.
Paul Heyman cut off Alicia Taylor and went down to ringside. Lesnar high-fived Heyman, who introduced Lesnar from the ring apron. Lesnar loved it. Heyman introduced Brock as the last real ass kicker and the fans reacted to it in a big way.
Analysis: Cool entrances for both guys.
Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena
It was 21 minutes into the show when the bell rang for the first match. It’s not a complaint. Just saying. Lesnar worked over Cena with shoulder tackles and a clothesline. Lesnar clotheslined Cena. Lesnar sent Cena hard into the turnbuckle, and Lesnar did it again. Lesnar hit a running powerslam to remain in control. Lesnar gave Cena a German Suplex across the ring. Lesnar grabbed Cena in a bearhug from behind, Cena got out of that and Lesnar hit a lariat. Lesnar hit a release German Suplex. Cena shoved Lesnar into the turnbuckle, Cena hit three shoulder tackles in a row and a fourth one knocked Lesnar down. Cena hit an Attitude Adjustment, Lesnar was back up and Cena hit another Attitude Adjustment. Cena hit a third Attitude Adjustment for just a two count. Cena went for the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Lesnar caught him and hit two F5s in a row, but there was no cover. Lesnar hit a third F5 with no cover attempt. Lesnar picked up Cena and hit a fourth F5. Lesnar hit a fifth F5, and still didn’t attempt a cover. Lesnar gave Cena a sixth F5 and cover for the pinfall win at 8:50.
Winner by pinfall: Brock Lesnar
Analysis: **1/4 It was a dominant win by Brock Lesnar, similar to when he beat John Cena easily at SummerSlam 2014 for the WWE Title. My pick for this match was Lesnar because we know Cena is done this year, and Lesnar is going to keep wrestling, so it makes sense to put over Lesnar strongly so that you can have him face others next year. Anyway, this was a slow-paced ass kicking with Lesnar dominating 85% of the match, and Cena got a bit of offense, but this was all about making Lesnar look like a beast as usual.
After the match, Lesnar picked up referee Dan Engler and hit him with an F5. Lesnar hit Cena with another F5. They showed a kid crying in the crowd. Lesnar took his gloves off and left the ring. They showed Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers looking sad. Another kid was shown nearly crying. They showed replays.
Analysis: More heat on Lesnar for being a jerk. It could be a way to write him out of storylines until he is brought back again. The attack on Graves and a referee could lead to a “suspension” story.
Following the replays, John Cena slowly left the ring. Cena resisted help from a referee and said he was walking to the back. Cena slowly walked up the ramp to the back. The fans chanted, “Thank You Cena” for John as he paused by the entrance.
A video aired about The Usos against Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker.
They went to a “We’ll be right back” video like we get during SmackDown and NXT on Netflix. That’s usually not the case for PLE shows. It lasted for about two minutes.
There was a commercial for WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas. Poor New Orleans getting it taken away.
The commentary team shilled Hulk Hogan’s Real American Beer and had some limited edition beer available.
During the Countdown Show, LA Knight was assigned the guest referee role for the upcoming tag team match.
The Usos entered in the crowd as usual and Jimmy Uso did a promo telling the fans to light up the arena with their cell phones while saying they wanted to show ESPN how it’s done. Jey set up the “Yeet” and they did the Yeeting routine on their way to the ring. The fans loved it. The entrance took a long time.
The Vision’s Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker were up next with Paul Heyman. This entrance was a lot faster.
The Usos – Jimmy & Jey Uso vs. The Vision – Bronson Reed & Bron Breakker (w/Paul Heyman)
LA Knight is the special referee wearing a referee’s shirt along with green pants.
Reed started with Jey using his power, but Jey came back with a jumping kick to the ear. Jimmy tagged in for a double kick to the ribs of Reed. The Usos hit a double uppercut on Reed. Jey hit a forearm smash on Reed, but Reed hit a back elbow to knock Jimmy down. Bron was fighting with Jey on the floor and Jimmy hit some punches on Reed. Bron pulled the top rope down, so Jimmy went flying over the top to the floor. Bron ran around the ring and hit a shoulder tackle on Jimmy on the floor. The team of Reed and Bron worked over Jey for a few minutes. Bron hit a suplex on Jimmy and Knight was slow to count, so Bron did some push ups. Reed tagged in with a senton splash on Jimmy. Reed put Jimmy’s head on a steel chair, but Jimmy countered that to kick Reed, who went into a chair. The referee, Knight, was not enforcing the rules strictly. Bron tagged in and knocked Jimmy off the apron to prevent a tag. Bron hit a back body drop on Jimmy. Reed had Jimmy on his shoulders and Bron jumped off the top with a bulldog for two. Reed went for a senton splash, but Jimmy avoided it. Jimmy finally broke free to tag in his brother.
Jey Uso tagged in against Bron and hit some clotheslines, along with punches. Jey hit a running hip attack on Bron where you could tell he didn’t even touch Bron and just hit his butt on the turnbuckle. Jey went up top and hit a cross body block for two. The fans were chanting for a table, so Jimmy brought a Slim Jim-sponsored table into the ring. The Usos set up a table against the turnbuckles. The Usos hit double superkicks and a 1D on Bron for two because Reed broke up the pin attempt. Jey battled with Reed by the ropes, but then Bron was there and hit a Frankensteiner off the top. Reed went for a moonsault, but Jey moved. Reed rolled into position for Jimmy to hit a Swanton Bomb. Bron hit a Spear on Jimmy. Jey hit a Spear on Bron. Jey went up top and hit an Uso Splash on Bron for a two count. Jey complained about Knight’s count, but it looked like Knight did a fair count. Jey superkicked Reed off the apron. Knight got in Reed’s face on the floor and Jey hit a suicide dive on Reed on the floor. Knight asked Jey if that was for him. Knight told Jey to get in the ring. Heyman tossed a chair into Bron in the ring. Bron held the chair, but Jey was ready with a superkick. Jey nearly hit Knight with a chair when Bron moved, but Jey stopped himself. Jey hit Bron in the back with a chair and threw a chair at Reed. Bron was able to recover from the chair shot and hit a Spear. Bron was bleeding on the back, but it was Jey’s face that was bloody. Bron hit a Spear on both Usos through the table that was against the turnbuckle. Reed went up top and hit a Tsunami on Jey for the pinfall win. It went 17:12.
Winners by pinfall: The Vision – Bronson Reed & Bron Breakker
Analysis: ***1/2 It was a very entertaining tag team match. LA Knight as the referee meant it was basically a Tornado Tag kind of match where weapons were legal because Knight didn’t care to enforce the rules. The problem with a match like this, where Knight was not enforcing the rules, is that the wrestlers don’t need to make tags because there are no rules, yet they spent the first half of the match building up the hot tag spot. They should have just made it a Tornado Tag Team Match and not have any tags, because then it would have made more sense. I picked The Vision boys in my preview. I think we’ll see the feud continue and The Usos will get a win down the road, but for this match, I think it was important to have The Vision look strong.
A video package aired about the Women’s World Title match between Iyo Sky and Stephanie Vaquer. There was a 3:30 clock counting down during this, so I assume there were ads for some people. That was followed by about 1:50 of the “We’ll be right back” moving images of the WWE talent.
The music group The War and Treaty were at ringside. Burke Magnus, who is ESPN’s President of Content, was at ringside. Former NBA player Jeff Teague and the Club 520 Podcast was at ringside. Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers was also at ringside. The poor guy tore his Achilles in the NBA Finals, so good luck to him in his recovery.
Drew McIntyre was shown warming up for the main event later in the show.
The WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton was at ringside watching the match. She has a triple threat on SmackDown against Jade Cargill and Nia Jax. That was going to be on this show, but WWE changed its mind.
Stephanie Vaquer made her entrance first and was cheered by the fans. Iyo Sky, the former Women’s World Champion, was also cheered. Alicia Taylor did the in-ring championship introductions.