• Original Plan For John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar At Wrestlepalooza
In the opening match of WWE Wrestlepalooza, Brock Lesnar defeated 17-time World Champion John Cena in a match that lasted 9 minutes. Lesnar beat Cena after hitting 6 back-to-back F5s. After the match, Lesnar F5ed the referee and hit Cena with another F5 before leaving. Kids in attendance were shown crying. Paul Heyman joined forces with Lesnar before the match, as he introduced The Beast as the last real a$$ kicker.
According to Bodyslam+, the original plan as of the morning of Wrestlepalooza was for Cena to defeat Lesnar.
During the Wrestlepalooza post show, WWE’s Chief Content Officer Triple H said the following about Cena’s devastating loss:
“Well, if I was in the WWE locker room in this moment, I would be looking at John Cena and thinking he is right for the picking for me now. And I’m gonna move in there and I’m gonna come and make a name for myself on the sort of this moment. I’m gonna jump in that John Cena lottery and I’m gonna get myself a top shelf booking against a guy that I think right now I can take out.
When you really break that down, John is in his final run and Brock is still Brock. You know every now and then reality creeps in and smacks you in the face and says this is what it is. That’s what happened to John Cena tonight. But if I know John, this doesn’t deter him.
John moves forward and John does everything he said he was gonna do and enjoys this return.”
John Cena only has 5 appearances left in his WWE retirement tour.
• Cody Rhodes Wanted To Lose The WWE Title At Wrestlepalooza
Cody Rhodes won back the Undisputed WWE Championship from John Cena in the main event of SummerSlam 2025.
On the SmackDown after SummerSlam, Drew McIntyre brutally assaulted The American Nightmare, smashing Cody’s head against the side of the announce table with a Claymore Kick.
This led to Cody and Drew colliding in the main event of Wrestlepalooza, where Cody defeated Drew to retain the WWE Title.
Drew went for the same Claymore Kick against the announce table, but missed and hurt his leg. When Drew went for a Claymore Kick again in the ring, his leg gave out. Cody then hit a super Cody Cutter from the top rope, followed by a Cross Rhodes for the win. A doctor checked on Drew’s leg after the match.
According to Bodyslam+, Cody and Drew pitched the idea of Randy Orton accidentally costing Rhodes the match here, which would’ve resulted in McIntyre closing ESPN’s debut WWE PLE as the new WWE Champion.
However, Triple H decided to go in a different direction on Saturday night.
Also Read: SmackDown Star Is Injured
• ESPN Not Impressed With WWE Wrestlepalooza
The dust has settled on WWE’s first-ever Wrestlepalooza, and ESPN has now delivered its verdict on the historic event. The show, which marked WWE’s debut on ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming platform, came loaded with marquee attractions – including Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena, and AJ Lee’s first match after 10 years.
But while expectations were sky-high, reactions have been mixed, both from fans online and now from ESPN’s own review. ESPN’s combat sports writer Andreas Hale graded the overall event a C, calling the show “average” with one notable exception: the Women’s World Championship clash between IYO SKY and Stephanie Vaquer, which earned praise as the highlight of the night. Hale described it as “a phenomenal display inside the squared circle” and awarded it the highest match grade of B+.
Elsewhere, Hale was less impressed. He noted that the Rhodes vs. McIntyre bout underdelivered due to its short length, while Lesnar vs. Cena was dismissed as little more than a setup for future angles, receiving the lowest individual score of the night at C-.
For a card hyped as a monumental crossover between WWE and ESPN, Hale felt the execution didn’t fully live up to the billing:
“The excellent Vaquer vs. Sky match saved this show from being truly average. It was a phenomenal display inside the squared circle. Everything else was either underwhelming (the short Rhodes-McIntyre match) or a setup for a future match (Lesnar dominating Cena). For a card that promised to have epic moments, it fell a little short of expectations.”
