Wrestlepalooza is in the books, and what a night it was.
The WWE and ESPN partnership is officially underway with the first PLE that was hosted on the platform. There were five matches on the card and a surprise Hall of Fame announcement. Ahead of the main event, the Undertaker came out and cut a strange out of character promo alongside Stephanie McMahon. The whole point was to announce that she is being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as the first member of the Class of 2026.
The night started with Brock Lesnar squashing John Cena, and continued with a tag match between the Usos and The Vision. Stephanie Vaquer and Iyo Sky stole the show, with Vaquer winning her first main roster gold. AJ Lee returned to the ring after 10 years and she and her husband CM Punk defeated Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch.
The main event of the evening was a mixed bag. Rhodes retained in what was overall a good match, but the WWE leaned too far into a head injury, and it created some sloppy spots. Overall, it was a fine show, but felt a little lackluster for being the first on ESPN and being hyped up so much by the worldwide leader in sports.
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Here are our match grades for Wrestlepalooza.
WWE Wrestlepalooza match grades
John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar
- Grade: C
This was a tough match to start with. WWE is all about storytelling. These two hadn't duked it out 1-on-1 since 2014 and Cena won that match by DQ. There was worry that this match was going to be a squash match, but the hope prevailed that, since it is Cena's retirement tour, he would be triumphant.
And despite a slow start, Cena had the crowd convinced. He hit three AAs in quick succession, and Lesnar kicked out at two. Lesnar then hit him with six F5s. Cena lost in a debilitating fashion. Lesnar then circled the ring, took out the ref and hit Cena with another F5 for good measure. You have to assume that over the next two and a half months, Cena will get his revenge on Lesnar to go out on a high note, but for now this stinks. Cena got obliterated and Lesnar looks dominant as ever, though we don't know how involved he will be going forward.
The Usos vs. The Vision
- Grade: B-
This match was a lot of fun once they got into it. It really didn't need LA Knight as the guest referee, but it did lead to fun moments when he would choose to turn his back and let the wrestlers incorporate a chair.
If this match ended how it likely was supposed to, timing-wise, it would've graded higher. Jey Uso got his head and started bleeding profusely. It clearly threw him off, and he was worried about it, because you could hear him clearly calling match spots out, and the finish was hurried so he could get medical attention.
They should really run this match back again, because it does have a lot of promise, but for now we hope everything is okay with Jey.
Iyo Sky vs. Stephanie Vaquer
- Grade: A
This match was absolutely amazing. It started slowly, with each wrestler showing off their technical prowess. There was a lot of respect between the two and despite this being Vaquer's first title match on the main roster, Sky and the pacing helped make it feel like a massive ordeal.
When the action picked up, it didn't stop. Yes, there were some sloppy spots that they could have cleaned up, but this match was great. The ending with Sky giving it all and taking off her knee guards despite Vaquer going after her knees was great. That coming into play when she missed her second moonsault and then Vaquer debuting a crazy top rope move was a great way to end the match. Would've been an A+ without some of the sloppiness early, but so far this is the match of the night.
WHAT. A. MOMENT.
— WWE (@WWE) September 21, 2025
Stephanie Vaquer becomes Women's World Champion at #Wrestlepalooza! pic.twitter.com/efRD82LHlK
CM Punk and AJ Lee vs. Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch
- Grade: B-
The crowd got into this match as it went, but for me it just felt like it went too long. It was great seeing Lee back in the ring after a 10-year absence, but she looked restricted in the ring for much of the match, like she was holding back or maybe it was just the rust showing.
Still, it felt like this match should've ended a few times before it did. The table spot was creative, but the landing was awkward. The right team definitely won, and I liked how Lee hit the Black Widow submission out of nowhere. Still, the lawlessness got to be a little much. The ref was counting pinfalls whenever they occurred, and the legal person in the match went out the window.
It was great seeing Lee back, the hit all of the classic tag match tropes with attacking with the ref's back was turned. It was a good way to end the storyline, but if you take the nostalgia away from Lee's return it wasn't that great of a match.
Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre
- Grade: B+
This was a good match, but they laid on a possible head injury too thickly. Rhodes stopping mid Cody cutter early and just holding his head before then hitting it just looked bad. Add on top of it that the referee stopped McIntyre from kicking Rhodes into the announce table, which was perfectly legal for him to do, and this match had some frustrating parts.
Outside of those, it was a good match with solid back-and-forth action. It was also very fast-paced, lasting around 15 minutes in total. McIntyre needs a championship run soon; he has earned it. It felt like this could be a good time to pull it off, but I'm sure ESPN didn't want the face of its new partner dropping his title the first chance he got on their platform.
Run this one back in the future and have McIntyre win. For now, Rhodes retains, and the WWE needs to stay away from any sort of concussion angles.
MORE: Recapping a wild, wild Wrestlepalooza