WWE Wrestlepalooza 2025: Card, date, matches, start time, rumors, location as John Cena headlines debut event

WWE kicks off its new ESPN deal ahead of schedule with Wrestlepalooza this weekend in Indianapolis. Wrestlepalooza was the name of a show run by ECW in the late 1990s to early 2000s and WWE chose to revive the name for the start of their new deal when the show lands at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

WWE has loaded the show up with big matches. The biggest match at the event features John Cena facing the returning Brock Lesnar in a revival of their past rivalry. That match marks one of the final in-ring performances on Cena’s retirement tour.

AJ Lee is also making a return to the ring for the first time in more than a decade. Lee will be teaming with her husband, CM Punk, against another married couple in Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins.

Plus, two more title matches help bolster this card. Undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes made his return to television recently and challenged Drew McIntyre to a match. And a new women’s world champion will be crowned after Naomi vacated the belt when she announced her pregnancy. Former champion Iyo Sky and hotshot prospect Stephanie Vaquer will battle it out for the new queen of the women’s ranks.

Let’s take a look at the matches we know are happening, along with a few we think may be on the way before things get underway in Indianapolis.

2025 WWE Wrestlepalooza matches

John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar: Cena’s retirement tour continues with another match against one of his greatest rivals. Lesnar made a controversial return to WWE to attack Cena after Cena dropped the undisputed WWE championship to Cody Rhodes. Lesnar attacked Cena again during Cena’s United States championship match with Sami Zayn on SmackDown. This all led to a match between the two as Cena’s time as a professional wrestler winds down.

CM Punk & AJ Lee vs. Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch: Punk and Rollins have had issues since Punk’s return to WWE at Survivor Series in 2023. After Becky Lynch interfered in the Clash in Paris four-way match for Rollins’ world heavyweight championship, she continued to antagonize Punk, knowing he could not put his hands on a woman. This led to the predictable return of Lee to WWE to set up this battle of married couples. Lee has not wrestled since 2015 and seemed as though she would never return to action, but the situation presented itself too perfectly for her to stay away.

Undisputed WWE Championship — Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Drew McIntyre: Rhodes personifies a fighting champion. Rhodes returned to SmackDown on Sep. 12, rescuing Randy Orton from McIntyre’s assault. Rhodes, who was absent for weeks after McIntyre attacked him, challenged McIntyre to a title match at Wrestlepalooza.

Women’s World Championship — Iyo Sky vs. Stephanie Vaquer: The title was vacated by Naomi after she announced her pregnancy in August. This left the two women who had earned title shots as the obvious pairing to crown a new champion. While Sky has already been to the mountaintop, this is the biggest match of Vaquer’s WWE career.

The Usos (Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso) vs. The Vision (Bronson Reed & Bron Breakker): The Vision have terrorized Raw since coming together under Rollins’ guidance. Jey has had plenty of issues with The Vision and that led to him reuniting with Jimmy. There are other layers to the match, however, with Jey’s recent issues with LA Knight leading to him blindside spearing Knight on Raw.