WWE Wrestlepalooza, WWE’s latest Premium Live Event (PLE) revival, took place Saturday night at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. As the first PLE of the ESPN era, Wrestlepalooza was presented as one of the more high-profile cards WWE has put together outside of its major tentpole shows thus far in 2025.
The five-match card featured two championship bouts as well as the highly anticipated return to in-ring action for AJ Lee. Lee, who departed WWE in 2015, returned earlier this month and teamed up with her husband CM Punk for a submission win over the heel duo — and real-life couple as well — of Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins. The nearly 30-minute contest was highly entertaining and potentially sets up the next challenger for Lynch’s Women’s Intercontinental Championship.
Advertisement
Beyond that, Cody Rhodes successfully defended his Undisputed WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre in the night’s main event. It was Rhodes’ first title defense since defeating John Cena at SummerSlam last month. The other title match on the card saw Stephanie Vaquer defeat Iyo Sky to win the vacant Women’s World Championship. Vaquer and Sky came into the night with arguably the highest expectations of anyone on the card, and both women delivered in the best match of the show.
Saturday also marked the latest stop in Cena’s retirement tour, as he renewed his longtime rivalry with Brock Lesnar after the latter returned in a surprise moment to cap off SummerSlam weekend. The match, which opened the show, was a demolition of the 17-time world champion at the hands of Lesnar, likely signaling a continuation of this storyline.
Advertisement
Finally, Jimmy and Jey Uso reunited to take on The Vision (Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed) in a standard tag-team match that had the added stipulation of having LA Knight as the special guest referee. The Vision walked out victorious, keeping them in the mix as a dominant force on “WWE Raw.”
Arguably the biggest surprise of the night came before the main event, when The Undertaker made an appearance and announced that Stephanie McMahon will be the first inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame’s class of 2026.
Here are the full results, grades and analysis from WWE Wrestlepalooza:
Cody Rhodes def. Drew McIntyre in 16:52 to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship.
Best spot: Cody Rhodes evading the Claymore Kick next to the announce table
Analysis: Rhodes selling the head injury for the duration of the match was a good way of making this one feel a bit more threatening to “The American Nightmare’s” title reign than it had any right being. Considering we had a spot here where Rhodes was pinned for more than a three-count, McIntyre has a compelling case for a rematch. McIntyre is always going to be a plug-and-play challenger at the top of the card and he has done a great job with these extended rivalries, which seems like where we are heading on “SmackDown” for the final portion of 2025.
Advertisement
AJ Lee and CM Punk def. Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins by submission in 29:15.
Best spot: Lee and Punk’s Black Widow and Sharpshooter
Analysis: Easily the most entertaining match of the night, Punk, Rollins, Lee and Lynch stole the show from a storytelling standpoint. Paul “Triple H” Levesque opened Saturday’s show talking about the way sports and entertainment intersect in this business, and this match — and the Stephanie Vaquer vs. Iyo Sky bout — illustrated that perfectly. Lee looked as sharp as ever in her first WWE match in more than 10 years, scoring a submission victory that should catapult her to the front of the line for Lynch’s Intercontinental Championship. While Lynch vs. Lee feels like a sure bet to happen in the very near future, I think the Rollins vs. Punk forever-feud needs to simmer a bit, because that feels like a WrestleMania main event. If there was any critique I would offer up, it’d be that this match went on a bit too long with the stealing of finishers.
Stephanie Vaquer def. Iyo Sky in 19:41 to win the vacant Women’s World Championship.
Best spot: Vaquer’s corkscrew moonsault to finish
Analysis: Expectations were high coming into this match, and somehow both Vaquer and Sky managed to meet — if not exceed — them. I wrote in our preview piece this week that Vaquer’s win should feel like a coronation, and that’s certainly what played out on Saturday night. Vaquer — like Sky and Naomi did before her — should bring some fresh air to a championship picture that was dominated for a long time by the Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan feud. While I wouldn’t rule out a very quick rematch (Monday, possibly?), Sky’s immediate future likely involves the tag-team scene and furthering of her fallout with Asuka and Kairi Sane. As Saturday showed, you’d be hard pressed to find a more impressive group anywhere in wrestling than what the WWE has in the “Raw” women’s division.
The Vision def. The Usos in 16:49
Best spot: Breakker’s Frankensteiner setting off chaotic sequence
Analysis: The in-ring action here was very solid and The Usos showed they haven’t missed a beat, despite working mainly as solo stars of late. The Vision needed to come out victorious here to re-establish them as a dominant force on Monday nights. Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed should almost immediately challenge for — and win — the World Tag Team Championships. There was plenty of building of tensions between Jey Uso and LA Knight, which should culminate in a singles match at Crown Jewel in Perth, Australia next month. Potentially the biggest takeaway, which has been bubbling up a bit recently, is how much Jimmy Uso stood out in this match and how he’s more than deserving of a similar singles run to what we saw with Jey over the past year-plus.
Brock Lesnar def. John Cena in 8:48
Best spot: Lesnar’s onslaught of F5s
Analysis: Lesnar wasn’t coming back to lose right away, that much is clear after his decimation of Cena to open the show. Lesnar looked to be in phenomenal shape and it seems as if we’re heading toward a clash between these two at Crown Jewel in three weeks — Cena’s next advertised appearance on his retirement tour. If Cena wins, a trilogy match can’t be ruled out, with stipulations likely added for each subsequent match we see between these two. The biggest intrigue for the rest of the Cena farewell tour will be who the final opponent will be and if it will be someone from the legend’s extensive past or a younger talent going over.
