WWE Wrestlepalooza 9/20/2025

WWE Wrestlepalooza 9/20/2025

This is the first WWE PLE on the ESPN+ app. It's an odd situation as Comcast users and some other cable subscribers have access to ESPN but don't get the app despite ESPN and WWE telling us we should have access. There was a bunch of confusion about how to see this show. This show also was set to be on at the same time as AEW All Out, but All Out changed their start time to avoid WWE.

We are in Indianapolis, Indiana. Wade Barrett and Michael Cole are on commentary.

We see various wrestlers arrive. 

We get Triple H doing a voiceover showing us clips of old WWF and old ESPN footage. He talks about the relationship between WWE and sport. Triple H says sports is entertainment, always has been and always will be at the end of it. 

Triple H talks in the ring to start the show. He says we are witnessing the final form of sports and entertainment. He welcomes us to WWE, ESPN and the show.

We see Pat McAfee and I think Tyrese Haliburton arrive in a car. Pat has a shaven face and he salutes everyone. Wade talks about how people thought he was fired (he made some comments about Nikki Bella and was pulled from TV the next week though he says it was part of a planned vacation). Pat McAfee then joins commentary.

John Cena vs Brock Lesnar

Cena comes out with a bunch of kids wearing his gear. Cena hugs the female announcer and then Paul Heyman comes out when it's time for Brock to be announced. He high fives Brock and does Brock's intro.

Brock pounds on Cena to start and hits corner spears. Brock short arm lariats him. Cena is sent hard into the corner. Brock powerslams him. Brock germans him out of the ring.

Brock lariats him then germans him. Cena tries flying shoulderblocks on him and needs 4 to drop him. Cena AA's him and Brock gets back up. Cena tries it again and Cena gets up again. Cena then does it again for 2. Brock F-5's Cena six times and wins.

Thoughts: Well, Brock looked strong here. This was all finisher spam and if you were hoping for a classic match, this was not it. I would assume we get a rematch out of this but Cena is running out of remaining dates. I wish they ran this type of match when Brock originally returned to WWE. 

Brock F-5's the ref after then F-5's Cena again. Cena walks out on his own after.

The announcers shill Hulk Hogan's Real American Beer.

We see footage from earlier. The Uso's and The Bron's run into each other backstage and officials break it up. Adam Pearce is later interviewed and says he needs a special guest ref and it's LA Knight. LA is interviewed. He says his only job is to count the three or ring the bell. 

They say the next match is sponsored by a group that sells EMF and peak performance stuff. I know nothing about any of that.

The Uso's come out through the crowd and Jimmy gets on the mic. He says he needs every cell phone to have its flashlight on as they are about to show ESPN how WWE gets down. Jimmy asks if Jey is ready to party then Jey does his yeet line.

Special Guest Referee - LA Knight: The Uso's (Jimmy and Jey Uso) vs The Vision (Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed)

Reed pounds on Jey in the corner. Reed misses a corner splash. Jey corkscrew kicks Reed in the corner. Reed takes a double superkick then a double punch. Jey corner splashes Reed and Reed back elbows him. Bron hits corner spears on Jimmy. Jimmy is thrown out. Reed grabs a chair, LA tells him no then Jimmy superkicks Reed. Jimmy grabs the chair and LA turns around as Jimmy chairs Reed. Jey then top rope dives the heels outside. Jimmy hits mounted corner punches on Reed.

Bron pulls Jimmy over the top rope. Bron flying shoulders Jimmy outside. Bron gets on Reed's back and they double splash Jimmy. Reed chairs Jimmy. Bron knees Jimmy in the gut then overhead suplexes him. Bron suplexes him then gets off to do push-up's. Reed sentons him. Reed's knee is dropkicked and he goes face first into a chair. Bron sends Jey into the steps. Bron overhead suplexes Jimmy. 

Jimmy takes an electric chair bulldog for 2. Reed misses a senton then spears a chair between the buckles when Jimmy moves. Jey comes in and hits lariats. Jey drops Bron with punches then corner hip attacks him. Jey top rope crossbodies him for 2. 

A table is brought in. The heels hit shots on The Uso's. Bron knees Jey in the gut and the table is put in the corner. Jey superkicks the heels. The heels take double superkicks then Reed takes a 3D for 2. 

Bron walks up the buckles and hurricanrana's Jey. Reed misses a top rope moonsault on Jey. Jimmy top rope swantons Reed. Bron hits a big spear on Jimmy. Jey spears Reed then top rope splashes him for 2. 

LA and Reed argue outside. Jey then topes Reed and LA has to run to avoid it. LA asks Jey if that was for him. Jey says maybe. LA tells him to watch himself and they argue. Paul Heyman gives Bron a chair. Jey superkicks Bron then chairs him after almost nailing LA. Reed has a chair thrown into his face.

Jey somehow gets busted open hitting Bron with a chair (no, really). Bron spears Jey. Bron spears both Uso's through a table in the corner. Reed top rope splashes Jey and wins.

Thoughts: It was fine but we've seen this match or variations of it a lot of times and it's getting old. They didn't get to go all out for this and have a classic but they kept it interesting and matched up fine. Jey somehow got busted open using a chair on Bron here. I was surprised we didn't get more with the issues LA and Jey had been having.

Women's World Title - Iyo Sky vs Stephanie Vaquer 

SV won this title shot in July but never ended up getting it. Something happened as SV really hasn't featured since then despite getting pushed hard prior to that. Tiffany Stratton is in the front row for this.

SV takes down Iyo then Iyo waistlocks her. They break and SV pulls Iyo's arms back. SV upkicks her. SV side headlock takeovers her. Iyo headscissors her then headlock takeovers her. Iyo handstands to escape a headscissors. They trade pin attempts and stare down. 

SV backdrops her. Iyo armdrags her then cartwheels off the ropes. Iyo sweeps her and basement dropkicks her. Iyo slams her then handstand double knee drops her. Iyo axe kicks her. SV boots her out of the corner then hanging triangles her over the ropes. SV blocks a sunset flip and legdrops her for 2. 

SV suplexes her then facelocks her. SV suplexes her then does a straightjacket choke. Iyo reverses it. Iyo double underhook backbreakers her. Iyo flapjacks her. Iyo springboard dropkicks her and headflips up. 

Iyo then topes her outside. SV blocks a sunset bomb on the floor. SV knee drops her on the apron. SV springboard plancha's her outside. SV springboard crossbodies her inside. SV suplexes her. Iyo germans her then SV germans her. 

SV headbutts her and Iyo headbutts back. They each hit some shots and Iyo flying forearms her. SV backdrops her. Iyo double stomps her off a devil's kiss attempt and crossfaces her. Iyo knees her in the face.  

SV dragon screws her. SV hits strikes then Iyo flying headscissors her for 2. Iyo buzzsaw kicks her. Iyo corner meteora's her. Iyo top rope moonsaults but SV gets her feet up and Iyo bounces. SV superkicks her and dragon screws her. SV does the devil's kiss. SV hits the SVB for 2.

Iyo shotei's her. They fight on the buckles Iyo top rope spanish flies her. Iyo corner meteora's SV then does one without knee pads on. Iyo running knees her. Iyo misses a top rope moonsault. SV skytwister presses her off the top and wins.

Thoughts: The finish was a bit sudden and could have been better. This was a face vs face match and there wasn't a ton of story. It was still okay but not much more. People are really convinced Steph is a superworker because she's foreign and looks nice but she's a very average wrestler. As I mentioned, Steph's road to the title was weird as she got pushed hard, then was thrown to the side for no real reason and now has won the title. I was really surprised they didn't involve Asuka and Sane in this one as that story would have worked out well here.

CM Punk and AJ Lee vs. Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch

Seth and BL come down on an elevated platform and are wearing matching purple glittery gear. This is AJ's return to the ring after many years. Punk is wearing some very girly looking colors on his gear.

BL pushes and shotei's Punk around. AJ is tagged in and BL hits Punk on the apron. AJ chases BL and BL tags in Seth. The heels hug outside and Punk topes Seth over the commentary table. Seth's head is banged off the commentary table then he is sent into and over the rails. Punk double axe handles Seth off the rails and throws him back in. 

Seth hits corner spears on Punk. BL hits shots on Punk. Punk hits corner spears on Seth then AJ pulls on Seth's hair in the corner. Punk atomic drops Seth. Punk top rope double axe handles Seth. Punk is caught off the top. BL kicks Punk from the apron then Seth hits Punk from behind.

Seth stomps on Punk then BL pushes Punk into the steps. AJ blocks Seth outside. Seth pounds on Punk on the commentary table. Seth top rope double axe handles Punk. Seth hits chops on Punk and running facekicks. BL slaps Punk on the ropes then Seth leg lariats Punk there. 

Punk hits punches on Seth. Punk gets stomped on by the heels while the ref is busy with AJ. Seth tries to gorilla press his wife onto BL but Punk moves. Seth misses a corner splash and goes out. Punk goes for the tag and BL pulls AJ down from the apron. Seth falcon arrows Punk for 2. Seth struts around and Punk hits a GTS on him. 

AJ is tagged in and finally gets BL. She hits mounted shots on her and takes her down and does it again. AJ throws BL down backwards and hits stomps in the corner. AJ corner splashes her and hits mounted corner punches. AJ hurricanrana's her and spinning high kicks her. AJ top rope crossbodies her for 2.

AJ slaps BL around. She then slaps Seth around. AJ tornado ddt's BL off of Seth. Punk helps AJ do an assisted shiranui on Seth and she splashes BL on the landing. AJ and Punk hit stereo bulldogs then hit stereo pumping knees. 

AJ rolls up BL then does a grounded octopus. AJ then christo's her while Punk sharpshooters Seth. Seth escapes and superkicks Punk. Seth goes for a move on AJ and is put in a christo. BL exploders AJ. BL and Seth do stereo pedigrees for 2 counts. Seth tells BL that their opponents are there because of them. The heels go for stereo GTS'. Punk and Seth go out over it then AJ exploders BL. 

Seth gets back in and Punk curbstomps him. Punk hits mounted shots. BL hits shots on Punk and slaps him around. Punk catches BL's boot and trips her. Seth grabs Punk then BL sharpshooters Punk. Punk rolls and reverses it. Seth pedigrees Punk then curbstomps him. AJ then cubrstomps Seth on the pin attempt. BL uranage's AJ for 2. AJ hits shots on BL. Seth and Punk trade shots. AJ and BL break it up then they hockey fight. Seth and Punk then hockey fight.

The heels are sent out and the faces follow. Seth is thrown over the commentary table. The faces clear off 2 commentary tables together. The teams fight on the commentary tables. BL throws AJ from one commentary table to the other, sending her, Punk and Seth through the table. AJ does an octopus to BL and taps her out.

Thoughts: It was long. As usual, the mixed tag rules weren't really followed here as both genders did moves to the other without problems. The finish wasn't that great as AJ went through the table with Punk and Becky but was up right after. AJ didn't botch anything but threw bad strikes and clearly isn't on the level of the girls today. The whole first half of this was based around the heels getting heat on Punk and keeping AJ out from wrestling. It was alright overall but I'm okay with this being a one and done for AJ.

The Undertaker comes out on a motorcycle for some reason. We see Stephanie McMahon clapping for him in the front row next to Nick Khan. Taker asks if the seat next to Steph is open. They sit down. Taker says he never sat down on this side before. He says he was in Vegas for the fight last week and says he saw Steph. Taker says he's here to steal a check and Steph is here again. He asks if Steph is following her. Stpeh says she followed him for a long time. Taker says they have known each other for a long time.

Taker asks Steph, "Are you ready? I said, are you ready?". Taker says it's his honor to induct Steph into the WWE 2026 Hall of Fame.

Undisputed WWE Title - Cody Rhodes (c) vs Drew McIntyre

Cody slaps Drew. Drew laughs and back elbows him. Drew hits chops on Cody. Cody does a drop down punch then Drew side headlock takeovers him. Cody hits punches and elbows on Drew. He drop down kicks him. Cody's stumbles then he Cody hits a cody cutter. Cody then holds his head.

Cody bodyscissors him with an armlock. Drew armdrags him. Cody hits a disaster kick while Drew is on the apron. Cody topes him outside. Drew catches Cody's tope and rams him into the post. Drew swinging throws Cody over the commentary table. 

Drew overhead belly to belly suplexes Cody twice. Drew chops him. Drew bends over and is kicked. Drew is sent into the post shoulder first. Drew sweeps Cody on the apron. Drew reverse alabama slams Cody on the steps for 2.

Drew hits mounted punches and stomps on Cody. Drew is up top. Cody runs up the buckles and superplexes him down. They trade shots and hockey fight. Cody powerslams Drew. Cody hits a disaster kick then a cody cutter. 

Cody is up top and Drew headbutts him. Drew hits a 2nd rope white noise on Cody. Drew goes for a claymore and Cody turns it into a pin attempt. Drew headbutts him. Drew misses a claymore and Cody figure fours him. Cody is nearly pushed into the ref. The ref goes out, comes in and Drew gets a nearfall on Cody. Cody hits a cross rhodes for 2.

Drew blocks a cody cutter. Drew tope con hilos Cody outside. Drew claymore kicks Cody for 2. They go outside. Drew tries to kick Cody's head into the commentary table. Drew misses when Cody moves and Drew kicks the table in. Drew holds his shin after.

Cody springboards inside and is caught with a headbutt. Drew goes for a claymore but his leg gives out. Cody runs up the buckles and cutters Drew. Cody hits a cross rhodes on Drew and wins.

Thoughts: I liked the ending with Drew trying to kick Cody's head into the commentary table again, missing and costing himself the match over it. They pushed early that Cody wasn't 100% but didn't quite play up on it. They kept up a good pace here and Cody's offense had an extra snap to it which helped things. The match was fine and Drew lost here as expected. 

Cody then poses with the title to close the show.

Overall thoughts: The show was fine overall but there was nothing great here. Brock squashed Cena with ease. We had an okay match between The Uso's and The Vision. Iyo and Steph got a lot of time but the match was nothing more than just okay. Steph won the title, following a very unusual road to get there. The mixed tag got a lot of time. They broke the mixed tag rules like usual and the ref didn't care. It was alright but AJ is still an early 2010's female wrestler and I'd be okay with not seeing her again. The main was fine but nothing too crazy. Cody won as expected. 

As I've said over past PLE reviews, WWE is clearly telling wrestlers to tone it down and not risk injury. It's good for longevity but it doesn't lead to classics. There was nothing wrong with the show but it's nothing I would seek out or rewatch. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 as nothing was bad here.