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Seth Rollins jumps off the ropes.
The match is being called the “final showdown between two generational titans.” The seventh and what is planned to be the last bout between the WWE legends John Cena and Brock Lesnar is scheduled to kick off the first-ever WWE Wrestlepalooza Saturday from 18,000-seat Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
And you know that Cena and Lesnar are indeed definitely “generational titans” because the author of that quote was Cena himself.
Join us right here at Heavy.com for live updates, results and reactions to the Wrestlepalooza card, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time, 4 p.m. Pacific.
Though it appears that the action got started a little early when The Usos ran into The Vision, their opponents later tonight, in the arena.
“the hate is real” the usos got into with the vision backstage Jey throw his hat they ready to cook them fashoo🤣🔥pic.twitter.com/DcHe50G65x
— ♛ ∞ ❣︎ Calandra Uso(YEET) ♛ ∞ ❣︎ (@TheUsosEmpire) September 20, 2025
Wrestlepalooza, for those who are either only casual wrestling fans or true aficionados who just haven’t been paying attention, is the first premium live event, or PLE, in a new era for WWE — the ESPN era.
More specifically, this will be the ESPN Unlimited era, because that is the name of ESPN’s new, all-in-one subscription app that will be the exclusive home for most if not all WWE PLEs starting with Wrestlepalooza, and picking up the pace for real in 2026 with Wrestlemania, SummerSlam and other big, branded events.
But if you haven’t paid the initial $29.99 per month to subscribe to the Unlimited app, you can follow the Wrestlepalooza action as it happens by refreshing this page.
John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar
With about 15 minutes to go before the official start of Wrestlepalooza 2025, the ESPN audience gets a brief, sentimental retrospective of Cena’s career and retirement announcement. Then we see Brock Lesnar coming on to promise that that he will **** up Cena’s “staged retirement.”
Of course Lesnar has defeated the self-proclaimed “last real champion” four times in their six matches, so his promise to “kick John Cena’s a** right into retirement” is not exactly just empty words.
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Almost there now. Husband and wife signing duo Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter, known as The War and Treaty, deliver a moving version of “God Bless America” to open the proceedings.
Niw Paul “Tripel H” Levesque, WWE chief creative officer, stands in the center of the ring to “welcome” the ESON audience, followed by a blast of indoor fireworks. Lesnar and Cena should be up next.
But actually, it’s Pat McAffee.
Now Lesnar appears and makes his way to the ring. McAffe describes Lesnar’s body as “sculpted to be the most athletic ever created.”
Cena appears, surrounded by about two dozen children all wearing bright yellow “Last Time is Now” t-shirts, as is Cena — who leaps into the ring. Cena steps out to stand at ringside watching Cena work the crowd.
The crowd breaks into alternate chants of “Let’s go Cena!” and “Cena sucks!” as ring announcer Alicia Taylor does her thing. But she is interrupted by a surprise appearance by Paul Heyman, founder of ECW which staged the original Wrestlepalooza events 30 years ago. Heyman introduces Lesnar.
No hesitation by Lesnar who pounds away at Cena, then catches him with a clothesline and slings him into a turnbuckle twice.
Then an old-school body slam and a suplex. It’s all Lesnar so far.
Lesnar appears to be about twice Cena’s size. Cena got Lesnar up on his shoulders but Lesnar escaped and landed another clothesline.
Cena finally flats Cena with a shoulder table then four successive AA bodyslams. After kicking out of a pinball, Lesnar responds with two straight F5s.
Then a third. And a fourth. Though Lesnar is moving slowly, maybe getting a bit of rest himself. But a fifth F5 and a sixth finishes off Cena.
A pin and three count and Cena is done. Lesnar wins!
Cena remains motionless on the canvas while Lesnar struts around the outside of the ring. Then he delivers an F5 to the ref.
And another to the defenseless Cena. Cena finally gets to his feet and walks out of the ring.
You really have to wonder what all of that was about. Not sure where the Cena retirement tour goes from here, if it goes at all. A more competitive exhibition would have been more entertaining, and planted better storylines for the future, but it seems WWE or perhaps Cena himself wasn’t interested in doing that.
And why should he be. Cena’s movies have taken in more than a billion dollars at the box office altogether. Doe she really need to be dropped on his face a half-dozen times to prove a point?
Oh well… onward to the next bout.
The Usos vs. Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker
Special guest ref L.A. Knight heads to the ring before the wrestlers appear. He’s wearing green jeans and a vest. Not exactly regulation referee gear.
The Usos enter next down a staircase through the crowd. Jimmy grabs a microphone and implores the crowd to pull out their cell phones.
After a good five minutes of the Usos strutting around the ring, here come Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker, with much less fanfare and ceremony. Bronson Reed stares down guest ref Knight.
More entertaining action to start this match than the last one.
Out comes the steel chair as Jimmy Use clobbers Bronson Reed. Jimmy Uso leaps over the top rope and takes out north of the “Brons.”
Jimmy Uso is down, appearing to hit his head on the concrete, then Breakker takes him down with leaping shoulder tackle. Now Knight simply allows Reed to apply the steel chair to Jimmy Uso’s back. Use is nearly motionless on the canvas as referee Knight allows pretty much any tactic to be used.
Why isn’t Ley Uso coming to his brother’s aid, but bringing the steel chair in to the ring backfires on Reed as Jimmy drives him into it, buying himself some time to recover.
The tag is made! Jey Uso enters the ring and instantly dominates The Vision. Brekker is hurt and Jey Uso goes for the pin. But Breakker kicks out. Now the Usos bring a table into the ring.
Usos getting into a groove with a double super kick on Breakker, but Reed breaks up the pinball and the match goes on. Jay Uso going up top with a flying leap off the ropes but again, Breakker kicks out at the two count. The Usos are complaining of a slow count by the guest ref.
Jey Uso almost slams Knight with a hair but pulls up at the last second. This match is pretty entertaining. Jey Uso is bleeding — and Reed comes off the top rope to land on Jimmy Uso and end the match with a three count. The Vision wins.
It’s starting to be clear why Cena-Lesnar opened the show. Better to get the dud out of the way first. The tag team bout may hav dragged on a bit too long, but definitely did not lack for action, complete with chairs, tables, multiple rope-leaps and so on. More of that, please.
Iyo Sky vs. Stephanie Vaquer
Vaquer, wearing devil horns, walks to the ring. A smiling, twirling Iyo Sky is next.
Sky outs Vaquerin a waist-lock, but Vaquer spins out and puts Sky in a hammer lock. Mainly sticking to traditional grappling moves and hold in the early stages. The two combatants shook hands before the match, signaling that this would be more straightforward test if skills than a free for all, like the previous match.
Sky body slams Vaquer then drops her knees into her opponent’s chest. Now Vaquer takes advantage of an arm injury too Sky to get a two-count, but that’s all.
Both women are down on the canvas, after some intense exchanges. When they get up, Sky has the upper hand.