The last time ‘Wrestlepalooza’ carried any sort of relevance among pro wrestling fans was in 2000, when ECW — Extreme Championship Wrestling — ran their final edition of the event in front of 2,500 fans in St. Louis, Missouri. However, to kick off their partnership with ESPN, WWE is dusting off the cobwebs and reintroducing Wrestlepalooza in a major way in Indianapolis, Indiana on Saturday September 20.
WWE’s Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque has promised that Wrestlepalooza will be “a spectacle” and given the caliber of match card that we’re looking at heading into the event, it would be a stunner if the pro wrestling/sports entertainment Goliath didn’t deliver the goods. But the question now is, who will deliver the wins?
Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena
The fact that this match has been billed as “the final battle” between Brock Lesnar and John Cena does slightly complicate what I initially planned on predicting here, though maybe I shouldn’t think too much into that. Remember when John Cena vs. The Rock at WrestleMania 28 was supposed to be “Once in a Lifetime?” Need a reminder how that worked out?
So even if we assume that a rematch between Lesnar and Cena could theoretically be on the table and in the works for one of Cena’s final appearances in WWE — and he’s only got six left heading into Saturday night, by the way — handicapping how this match will play out is awfully tricky. Will Cena make a return trip to Suplex City and get dominated by Lesnar the way he did at SummerSlam 2014? Or can the ‘Last Real Champion’ withstand the beating that Lesnar is sure to give him but find a way to upset ‘The Beast,’ a la Extreme Rules 2012?
With the added emotional stakes after last night’s Smackdown, when Brock Lesnar kicked the show off with an unprovoked attack on Michael Cole and Corey Graves, I’m expecting to see an enraged Cena return to his Ruthless Aggression roots at some point in this match, but because it’s not an extreme rules contest this time around, it will ultimately cost Cena the W.
And yes, I’m expecting these two to cross paths at least one more time before Cena hangs up the sneakers and jorts.
The Pick: Brock Lesnar by Disqualification
The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) vs. The Vision (Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed)
The Vision is all over the Wrestlepalooza card, and that’s even truer after Smackdown gave us Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman’s first interaction on WWE television in years. But figuring out what this night looks like for WWE’s most powerful faction isn’t easy. Does The Vision — Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch included — come out of Wrestlepalooza looking as unbeatable as ever? Or will the good guys get one over somewhere on the card?
I think there’s a way for WWE to be able to accomplish both of those things on Saturday night. The Usos will be teaming for the first time in over two years, and they are one of a handful of teams who can stake a claim as the greatest duo in pro wrestling history. I think that experience carries over into a win, but don’t be surprised if Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed get one over on the Usos after the match.
The Pick: The Usos
Women’s World Championship: Stephanie Vaquer vs. Iyo Sky
If you’re looking for a match that could steal the show at Wrestlepalooza, look no further than Stephanie Vaquer vs. Iyo Sky for the vacant Women’s World Championship. Vaquer and Sky are both uber-talented in the ring, and with only five matches on the card, it’s likely that these two ladies will get a good amount of time to cook on Saturday night.
Bell to bell, there might not be a better in-ring worker than Iyo Sky, but Vaquer has long been rumored to get a push to the top of the women’s division, and this feels like the night it happens. Don’t be surprised if Asuka and Kairi Sane make their presence felt near the tail end of the bout, potentially at the expense of ‘The Genius of the Sky.’
The Pick: Stephanie Vaquer
CM Punk and AJ Lee vs. Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch
Frankly, I’m a little surprised this match isn’t going on last at Wrestlepalooza. The CM Punk/Seth Rollins rivalry has been WWE’s hottest storyline in 2025, and the recent additions of their superstar wives — AJ Lee and Becky Lynch respectively — have helped it hit another gear.
The fact that this isn’t the main event makes me think that maybe we aren’t getting a storybook ending in AJ Lee’s return to the ring… at least not yet. Not that WWE needs to send the crowd home happy, but if this match was in the main event slot, you could easily see CM Punk and AJ Lee celebrating in the center of the ring to close out the show. Now that it’s not going on last, I’m not so sure.
However, if this rivalry is going to continue to have legs moving forward into the fall — and I don’t see why they’d book it to end so quickly after AJ returned to WWE — it might require that Punk and Lee get a win, especially since it opens the door for them to challenge for Rollins’ World Heavyweight Championship and Lynch’s Women’s Intercontinental Title respectively.
The Pick: CM Punk and AJ Lee
Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre
Drew McIntyre has been getting the better of Cody Rhodes at every turn, and if this were a sport — not sports entertainment — it would be easy to look at this matchup and roll with McIntyre since he has all the momentum going into Wrestlepalooza. But that’s what makes pro wrestling so compelling, right? The heel continues to get the better of the babyface until the time comes for a major payoff, when the babyface gives the heel his comeuppance.
Sure, this is a relatively formulaic and simplified way to look at pro wrestling’s booking process, but in Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, we have pro wrestling’s closest thing to a pureblood babyface, and McIntyre isn’t playing the tweener in this feud. He’s been a vicious heel who is looking to strip Rhodes of what he loves most.
Unless there’s a truly major swerve, I can’t see McIntyre walking out of Wrestlepalooza with the strap, but Triple H has promised surprises on Saturday night. My guess is it will happen post-match, as Rhodes celebrates, when we get a look at a potentially surprising new number one contender for his title.