Welcome to SLAM Wrestling’s live coverage of WWE’s latest Premium Live Event (PLE), Wrestlepalooza. The show airs live tonight at 7pm Eastern Standard Time (according to Netflix) from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis Indiana. There will also be a two-hour pre-show that will begin at 5pm EST.
The main show will feature five matches and will open with John Cena facing Brock Lesnar. This will be Lesnar’s first wrestling match in over two years and the first Cena/Lesnar encounter since SummerSlam 2014. Other big matches on the card include Cody Rhodes defending his Undisputed WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre and a dream mixed tag match that will see Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch take on CM Punk and his wife AJ Lee in Lee’s first wrestling match since March 2015.
Fans in Canada can watch Wrestlepalooza on Netflix by simply searching ‘WWE’ or ‘Wrestlepalooza’. For American fans, this might be a bit more complicated since this is the first show being broadcast under WWE’s newest business deal with ESPN. According to an FAQ page on ESPN’s homepage, Wrestlepalooza, along with other “tentpole” events such as WrestleMania and the Royal Rumble, are available to stream with an ESPN Unlimited plan. Alternatively, if you have DIRECTV, Fubo TV, Spectrum TV, or FiOS, ESPN Unlimited might already be part of your existing package. Please be sure to check your current plan to see if you have ESPN Unlimited under your broadcasting or streaming arrangement. Additional information can also be found here.
The show begins
The lights go out and we get a zoom in on one of the television screens. This is followed by Triple H voicing over a compilation of WWE and ESPN working together over the decades. Included is footage of Andre the Giant, Jimmy Snuka, Hulk Hogan, The Wild Samoans, and many other big moments in WWF/E history. Some of these moments, like Brock Lesnar ground-and-pounding one of his opponents in the UFC, are accompanied by pyro and fireworks. This compilation ends with Triple H stating “sports…IS…entertainment”. Cut to Triple H standing in the ring. He plays to the crowd for a moment and announces that what we are about to witness is the final form of sports and entertainment”.
Michael Cole and Wade Barrett welcome us to the show and then we cut to backstage where a big truck rolls up. It’s Pat McAfee. He makes his way through backstage, gets a hug from Triple H and then he makes his all the way past the Gorilla Position and out to commentary to join the others. The crowd seems happy to see him.
Match #1: John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar
Lesnar’s out first and gets a relatively subdued reaction. Nowhere near the huge pop he got when he returned. Michael Cole makes sure to move as far out of Lesnar’s line of sight as possible. Lesnar’s looking more and more like an actual Viking with each passing appearance…that is, if you just focus on how humongous he is and ignore his tattoos. Meanwhile, John Cena gets a massive pop and is accompanied by an army of mini-Cenas all decked out in the exact same gear as him. Make-A-Wish super babyface Cena has returned.
Mixed reaction for John Cena right on cue. Alicia Taylor starts intros when out comes, of course, Paul Heyman to introduce his most famous charge. And boy does he give his all for that.
Lesnar dominates Cena early with shoulder thrusts and drops him with a clothesline. Big British Bulldog-style running powerslam by Lesnar followed by the first of many German suplexes. Cena powers out of a rear bearhug and tries an AA but Lesnar lands another big clothesline. Cena escapes another powerslam. It takes four shoulderblocks for him to get Lesnar off his feet. Then Cena skips the theatrics and lands three consecutive AAs…for two. Lesnar followed with two F-5s, pauses, lands a third, and gloats. Now Lesnar’s toying with Cena as he lands a fourth F-5. Followed by two more, for a total of six. Lesnar covers and gets an emphatic three-count.
Winner after 8:50: Brock Lesnar
Lesnar starts to leave but then returns to the ring. He F-5s the referee, dumps him out of the ring, and connects with a seventh F-5. The camera pans to some crying children distraught over the carnage as Lesnar leaves. The crowd chants “Thank you Cena” as he slowly makes his way to the back
Rating: 5.5/10 Basically a repeat of their SummerSlam 2014 encounter but with a bit more offense from Cena. If this was meant to build Lesnar up for his next opponent then it did its job. But a dream match in the same vein as their Extreme Rules 2012 encounter this was not.
There’s a brief interlude followed by a plug for Hulk Hogan’s Real American Beer.
Match #2: Jimmy & Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker & The Vision (Bronson Reed) [with Special Guest Referee LA Knight]
Knight being added to this match was apparently on the pre-show which, unfortunately, was not available on Netflix in Canada.
The Usos begin their entrance in the crowd but then Jimmy cuts the music. He asks everyone to take out their phones and turn on their flashlights. What ensues is basically a hip-hop version of Bray Wyatt’s fireflies entrance gimmick. This goes on way too long. Then out come Reed and Breakker accompanied by Heyman who just seems to come and go as he pleases.
The Usos double-team Reed early but fail get him off his feet. The action soon spills to ringside as Reed grabs a chair while Breakker distracts Knight. Jimmy chairs Reed as Knight doesn’t call for the bell. Jey dives from the top rope to both Brons. Breakker lowers the top rope to send Jimmy to the floor and then lands a massive running tackle. Reed uses the chair on Jimmy in front of Knight and Knight, apparently being impartial, allows this since he allowed Jimmy to use it earlier. Reed teases getting a table but doesn’t find one. The crowd is pretty dead for this match and only seems to react to taunts. Reed tries using the chair again but Jimmy counters with a drop toehold into it. Breakker stops a hot tag and launches Jimmy overhead. The Brons channel the Steiner Brothers with a Doomsday Bulldog for two. It takes a while but Jimmy eventually completes the hot tag. Superstar comeback sequence gets a two-count so Jey pulls out a table, brought to you by Slim Jim. The Usos hit a 3D/1D on Breakker but Reed saves his partner. Breakker botches a Frankensteiner. Reed misses a diving moonsault. Breakker spears Jimmy but Jey spears Breakker for two. Jey gets in Knight’s face which leads to a dive to the floor. Knight accuses Jey of aiming for him as Breakker grabs a chair. Breakker pushes Knight into the way and almost hits him again. Somehow Jey has been busted open badly, his blood covering Breakker as well as himself. Breakker spears both Usos through the table and then Reed lands a Tsunami for the three-count.
Winners after 17:12: The Vision (Bron Breakker & Bronson Red)
Rating: 6/10 It started off very slow without much hear but got a bit more exciting towards the end. It was your token plunder match with high spots, dives, distractions, and a ref getting a bit too involved in the story. It turned into a bit of a demolition derby at the end so at least those fans who like token plunder will have something to enjoy here.
We get a plug for ESPN followed by a showcase of the various “celebrities” in attendance, which now apparently includes podcasters. There’s also some ESPN executives and at least NBA All-Star Tyrese Haliburton in the building as well. And so too is Tiffany Stratton who serves as a segue to promote a big upcoming women’s match on SmackDown.
Match #3: Stephanie Vaquer vs. Iyo Sky – singles match for the vacant Women’s World Championship
Fairly muted reaction for Vaquer while Sky gets a relatively bigger pop.
No Booker T to call the match. They shake hands and it’s on. Traditional grappling to start. Some nice technical exchanges follow. Things stay even for the first few minutes until Sky lands a basement dropkick. Surprisingly Cole mentions STARDOM by name as he goes over both women’s pasts. Vaquer does a Minoru Suzuki-inspired over-the-top-rope headstand armbar. They trade holds on the mat until Sky lands a butterfly backbreaker. Sky with a springboard dropkick and the crowd finally wakes up. Suicide dive to the floor. Sky attempts a sunset flip powerbomb to the floor but Vaquer answers with a knee drop followed by a springboard splash to the floor. Back in the ring the two women trade Germans. Big knee by Sky. Vaquer blocks a kick and lands a dragon screw leg whip. Frankensteiner by Sky gets two. Sky attempts a moonsault but Vaquer gets her boots up. Another dragon screw sets up the Devil’s Kiss. And the crowd cheers wildly. Vaquer lands her finisher but Sky kicks out. Both women struggle in one of the corners. Then Sky lands a diving Spanish Fly but hurts her knee in the process. Her delay in covering leads to another two-count. Sky removes her kneepads and goes for another moonsault but misses once again. Vaquer follows with a diving corkscrew dive similar to AJ Styles’ Spiral Tap to get the three-count and win the title.
Winner and NEW Women’s World Champion after 19:40: Stephanie Vaquer
Rating: 7.75/10 Match of the night thus far. This was all kinds of fun with plenty of high-flying and high-risk action. These two women had great chemistry and treated this like a respectful competition. Not much else to say. This was exciting and action-packed.
Post-match, both women bow and show respect to each other and then Vaquer huge her dad at ringside, who came all the way from Chile to see his daughter do her thing. Great moment, that.
Match #4: Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch vs. CM Punk & AJ Lee
Nice pre-match hype video showing how this all started. Also, AJ Lee looks INCREDIBLE. It’s like she hasn’t aged a day in ten years. “The Power Couple” Rollins and Lynch come down first from an elevated platform and are dressed in absurd matching purple outfits. If this is another comic book reference then it’s gotta be one of the most obscure ones out there. Meanwhile, Punk gets a big pop but even his is dwarfed by AJ Lee’s. Well at least Wade Barrett does the right thing and tells the truth about how AJ Lee influenced the change in women’s wrestling in WWE.
The crowd is overwhelmingly behind AJ but because it’s WWE-style mixed tag rules it means men wrestle men and women wrestle women. So Punk and Rollins start but then Lynch tags in and starts throwing light mocking hands at Punk; after all the story is “Punk won’t hit a woman”. So he tags AJ instead but Lynch cheapshots him on the apron. WE get a story of dueling tags abusing the stipulation until Punk lands a suicide dive to Rollins.in the ring Rollins and Lynch continue bending the rules and working around Punk’s reluctance to strike back. AJ gets a modicum of revenge by hitting Rollins out of a corner. Rollins and Lynch to a great job of using the match rules to their advantage while AJ finds herself isolated and unable to do all that much. This has, effectively, become a de facto handicap match for the time being. Punk NEARLY gets to his corner but Rollins launches him into his. Punk lands a suplex and tries getting into his corner. Rollins puts him in a front chancery and Lynch distracts the referee the moment Punk tags Lee. But because the ref was distracted the tag doesn’t count. Rollins and Lynch double-team Punk some more. Rollins presses Lynch overhead to use her as a weapon but Punk dodges. He goes to tag once again but Lynch pulls AJ down from ringside. Rollins lands a falcon arrow and then mocks AJ’s mannerisms…but then walks into a GTS. Lynch tries holding Punk back one more time but can’t. Lee comes in and runs wild. Rollins tries to interfere but she windmills him as well. Aided Shiranui/moonsault combination with all four wrestlers working together. Lee locks in a Black widow as Punk traps Rollins in a sharpshooter. Rollins saves his wife but AJ puts Rollins in her finisher. Double Pedigrees get double two-counts. I think at this point the rules are no longer being enforced. Interruptions galore ensue between all four participants. Lynch puts Punk in the sharpshooter. Even more interruptions. The action spills to ringside with the men setup on one announce table and the women on the other. More teases and counters. Lynch throws AJ into Punk causing that one table to break. Lynch goes for her finisher in the ring but AJ counters into a Black Widow and gets the win via tap-out.
Winners after 29:18: CM Punk & AJ Lee
Rating: 7.75/10 The first half of this match was excellent with the heel side working the stipulation flawlessly. Then when AJ tagged in the match peaked. But then after a few minutes everyone just lost the plot. It got more and more convoluted. The referee stopped caring about any sort of rules or order. It turned into a senseless demolition derby that most people have seen thousands of times from WWE over the years with the only real creativity and novelty coming from Rollins and to a lesser extent Lynch. This would’ve been a significantly better match if had a good ten minutes shaved off. But as it stands an equally exciting match as the earlier women’s match just too long and too overly ambitious to warrant higher praise.
GONG! It’s The Undertaker of all people. He rides down to the ring on his motorcycle and we get a shot of Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan applauding him. He sits down next to Stephanie and after some poor comedy he announces that Stephanie McMahon will be the first inductee in the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame.
Match #5 (Main Event): Undisputed WWE Championship Match: Cody Rhodes [c] vs. Drew McIntyre
Standard wrestling to start things off. Cody appears to be stumbling and unfocused as he lands a Cody Cutter and takes things back to the mat. Cody lands two suicide dives but on the second McIntyre catches him and throws him over an announce table. McIntyre manhandles Cody with suplexes but then Cody sidesteps causing McIntyre to hit a post shoulder-first. Alabama Facebuster to the ringsteps gets two. Cody with a superplex. Forearm exchange/hockey fight. Another Cody cutter but McIntyre strikes back with a head-butt. Avalanche White Noise gets two. Cody lands a sort of powerbomb to block a Claymore Kick and then dodges a second. Figure-4 leglock. McIntyre escapes with punches. McIntyre removes a turnbuckle pad and throws it out of the ring. the ref escapes the ring to avoid becoming another ref bump. McIntyre gets a roll-up and a visual three-count but the ref’s late on the count. McIntyre runs chest-first into an exposed turnbuckle and Cody lands Cross Rhodes for two. McIntyre blocks another Cody Cutter and lands an Undertaker-style suicide dive. A Claymore Kick connects but only for two. McIntyre teases a kick near the announce table but the ref gets in the way. McIntyre hesitates for a moment but charges, and then kicks a hole in the table. Another head-butt stops a Cody Cutter. McIntyre attempts a Claymore but his legs give out so Cody capitalizes with a cutter and a successful Cross Rhodes to retain the title.
Winner and STILL Undisputed WWE Champion after 16:52: Cody Rhodes
Rating: 7/10 Technically solid but nothing really special in a positive way. The match featured a few pitfalls that can make WWE’s main-events frustrating at times, namely ref bumps – or in this case a teased one – and the referee stopping the action out of what looked like moral concern. This echoed the dubious finish of Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt from Hell in a Cell 2019 in that the referee went beyond the scope of his responsibility and this ultimately led to something of a screwy finish. McIntyre had the match won and largely manhandled Cody only for Cody to turn things around Hulk Hogan style with a short but decisive comeback. Not but nothing we haven’t seen before from WWE.
Overall show rating: 6/10
This was a very end-heavy show with the first two matches being either highly underwhelming (Cena/Lesnar) or generic and somewhat meandering (Usos/Vision). It picked up with the women’s title match and the mixed tag was on its way to being excellent but then the four people involved gave up on consistency and just turned it into more token plunder and mayhem which made it less impactful. The main event was fine but had a dumb story that further adds to the idea that Drew McIntyre keeps choking in title matches which is never a good look for someone whose meant to be in the title picture long-term. The rest of the show was filled with the usual: long breaks, longer entrances, and some filler. The only noteworthy surprise was Stephanie McMahon being announced as the first inductee into the 2026 Hall of Fame. Though why Undertaker was chosen to make this call is a mystery.
That’ll do it for our coverage of WWE Wrestlepalooza. Please be sure to check out SlamWrestling.net for all your wrestling news and updates. Thanks for reading.
