Wrestlepalooza, the first WWE show to be streamed on ESPN, took place this last weekend. The card featured multiple title bouts, big time returns and long-time grudges coming to a head. Let’s take a look at WWE’s newest marquee event.
In the final chapter of one of WWE’s most heated rivalries of all time, John Cena faced Brock Lesnar in the opening match. The last time the two men wrestled was at the Royal Rumble in 2015, over 10 years ago. Lesnar made his surprise return at SummerSlam, attacking Cena, reigniting their legendary feud.
Lesnar dominated nearly the entire match. Cena battled back and delivered three straight Attitude Adjustments, but Lesnar kicked out and immediately laid Cena back out. After performing several F5’s, Lesnar pinned Cena in what was ultimately a very disappointing match and result. Lesnar attacked both the referee and Cena after the match.
Next, The Usos faced Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed of The Vision. The last time The Usos wrestled together before Wrestlepalooza was 821 days ago. During the preshow, general manager Adam Pierce announced that LA Knight, who has had issues with Jey Uso and The Vision leading up to the match, would be the special guest referee.
With Knight as the ref, the normal tag match quickly turned into an extreme rules match with the involvement of tables and chairs. Knight and Jey argued throughout the match, at times distracting Jey from his opponents. The match finished with Breakker spearing both Usos through a table leaned up in the corner, and Reed jumping off the top rope to deliver a Tsunami onto Jey to pick up the win.
In a match for the vacant Women’s World Championship, Stephanie Vaquer faced Iyo Sky to crown a new champion for the RAW women’s division.
This was incredible and widely considered the best match of the night. The two women battled back and forth, each delivering their best and biggest moves, only for their opponents to continue to kick out. Sky attempted a moonsault, but Vaquer was able to roll out of the way, sending Sky crashing into the mat. Vaquer climbed to the top rope herself and delivered a beautiful Spiral Tap to win the vacant title, her first championship on the main roster.
At SummerSlam, CM Punk finally captured the World Heavyweight championship, the title that had eluded him during his return. However, Seth Rollins came out to cash in his Money in the Bank contract on Punk and win the championship. Rollins successfully defended his championship in a fatal-four-way at Clash In Paris, thanks to interference from his wife Becky Lynch delivering a low-blo to Punk. On the following SmackDown, Punk brought the reinforcement, with his wife AJ Lee making her first WWE appearance for the first time since 2015. The mixed tag-team match between Rollins & Becky vs Punk & Lee was made official for Wrestlepalooza, Lee’s first match in 10 years.
Lynch did everything in her power to avoid Lee. She and Rollins isolated Punk in the ring, using multiple shady tactics to not allow Punk to tag in his tag team partner. When Lee finally got the tag, she ran roughshod. Both teams traded tandem moves, in and out of the ring.
Near the end of the match, both teams battled on top of the announce tables, trying to potentially get one big final blow by slamming their opponents. Lynch, in order to escape a move, threw Lee from one table to another, sending her crashing into Rollins and Punk, all three of them going through the announce table. The ending came when Lee forced Lynch to submit to the Black Widow to win the match.
Prior to the main event, The Undertaker made a surprise appearance. He came out to the ringside area and announced to Stephanie McMahon that she would be the first member of the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame.
Drew McIntyre looked to take the Undisputed WWE Championship from Cody Rhodes in the main event. Not only was his title on the line, Rhodes looked to get revenge for his mentor and friend Randy Orton, who McIntyre put on the shelf.
It seemed like McIntyre had the win when he rolled up Rhodes for over three seconds, but the referee was out of the ring, allowing Rhodes more time to eventually kick out. Both men traded finishers, neither able to get the job done and end the match.
McIntyre attempted a Claymore Kick on Rhodes through the bottom of an announce table, the same move that took out Orton, but Rhodes was able to move out of the way and caused McIntyre to crash into it leg first. Back in the ring, McIntyre once again had Rhodes lined up for a Claymore Kick, but collapsed due to the injured leg. Rhodes delivered a Cody Cutter and Cross Rhodes to retain the championship.
