The SmarK Rant for WWE Wrestlepalooza 2025 – 09.20.25

The SmarK Rant for WWE Wrestlepalooza 2025 – 09.20.25

Originally written 09.21.25

Don’t forget to also read Kat’s review of the show from last night: https://www.blogofdoom.com/2025/09/20/wwe-wrestlepalooza-review-9-20-2025/

Time for the other half of my weekend double-header! It’s actually a good thing that they put this show on the Saturday night instead of Sunday. Can you imagine how bad morale would be if everyone in WWE had to miss Charlie Kirk’s funeral?

Live from Indianapolis, IN and presented by Xfinity, who apparently don’t carry the ESPN version that allows their subscribers to watch this show. Also we get a video package about ESPN to start the show, which means jack shit everywhere else in the world where all the shows are on Netflix. Also when Cole says “LIVE ON ESPN!” he actually means “Live on the streaming version that you have to pay an additional $30 to access!”

Your hosts are Michael Cole & Wade Barrett & Pat McAfee

Brock Lesnar v. John Cena

I still don’t see the point of wasting one of Cena’s last appearances on this. Cena is now back in full babyface mode, accompanied by more kids than a Trump vacation on Epstein Island. Don’t worry, Linda McMahon denies anything was happening anyway. Anyway, 20 minutes into this show, we finally get going as Brock attacks and lays him out with a clothesline and whips him into the corner a couple of times. Apparently this match is sponsored by something called VeBetter. I literally have no context about what that even is. Brock with our first suplex to put Cena on the floor and back in for a bearhug, but Cena tries to escape with an AA and Brock clotheslines him again. Another suplex, but Cena makes a comeback and Brock won’t go down, so John hits the AA, not once, not twice, but THRICE and gets two. But then Brock actually can see John and hits him with a bunch of F5s and pins him at 8:44. Well that certainly ends Cena’s string of good matches with a thud, literally doing the same match we’ve already seen what feels like thousands of times. *

Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed v. The Usos

LA Knight is the special referee due to shenanigans on the pre-show. Jey beats on Reed with kicks in the corner to start, but Reed elbows Jimothy down and the heels work him over in the corner. They head to the floor and Knight prevents Reed from using a chair, but he doesn’t care so much when Jimmy gets it for a chairshot. And Jey dives onto the heels, but poor Jimmy gets laid out by a flying Bron anyway. Look, it’s pretty obvious which Uso is the main eventer given how useless Jimmy looks here. Back in, Reed with an assisted splash for two. Back to the floor and Reed uses the chair with no pushback from Knight this time, so he wedges a chair in the corner for future considerations. Bron with a suplex for two and Reed sets up a chair, but Jimmy trips him and he lands on it to allow Jimmy to get back to his corner. But then Bron cuts off the tag and continues beating on Jimmy with another suplex. The elevated Steiner bulldog on Jimmy gets two. Reed charges and hits the chair he left in the corner earlier and it’s hot tag Jey so the fans can go yeet yeet yeet. Jey with the flying bodypress for two. This gives Jimmy a chance to unveil the SLIM JIMS TABLE and that gets setup in the corner, but the Usos hit the One D for two. Bron with a top rope rana on Jey, but then Jey spears him and goes up with a flying splash for two. Back to the floor and Knight beefs with Jey while Bron gets a chair. Back in the ring, Jey nearly hits LA with the chair as we’re kind of just wandering around the ring, and finally Bron spears both Usos through the table, and Reed finishes Jey with the Tsunami splash at 16:54. An average tag match that ran out of steam quickly. **1/2. Honestly I was expecting better from ESPN and whoever it was sponsoring this match. You let me down, Aires.

World Women’s title: Iyo Sky v. Stephanie Vaquer

As a reminder, this is on ESPN, we cannot stress that enough or remind you enough times. They trade takedowns as we learn that the match is sponsored by Old Spice, which is interesting in that it’s finally a sponsor I’ve heard of and use, and also ironic in that wrestling fans desperately need to use it and rarely do. Just ask Kat Bourne, she’ll tell you! They continue battling to a stalemate and Sky dropkicks her and goes to work on the leg, but Stephanie gets a hanging armbar in the corner. Iyo gets a backbreaker and it’s a double down, but Iyo gets a springboard missile dropkick to send Stephanie to the floor and she follows with a tope. Back to the apron and Iyo tries a sunset flip to the floor, but Vaquer drops a knee on her and hits a dive from there. Back in with a crossbody, but Sky hits her with a german suplex for another double down. Stephanie is up first and tries the Devil’s Kiss, but Iyo counters with a cradle for two and goes to a crossface. Stephanie escapes that and Sky tries the moonsault, but Vaquer brings her down with a dragon screw to hurt the knee. Sky gets another rollup for two and puts her down with a kick to set up another moonsault. But that one misses and Vaquer dragon screws the knee again and finally gets the Devil’s Kiss and a backbreaker for two. They fight to the top again and Sky brings her down with a Spanish fly, which gets two. Running knee in the corner and she follows with a knee strike to set up the moonsault, but that misses again and she hurts the knee again on the landing. Vaquer goes up and hits a Spiral Tap, however, and that finishes to win the title at 19:50. Excellent match with great chemistry between them, but I will note that they spent a lot of time emphasizing Sky’s knee injury and then it just ended with Vaquer hitting her big move out of nowhere and getting the pin. ****

Becky Lynch & Seth Rollins v. CM Punk & AJ Lee

We get some wackiness with the heels tagging in and out to manipulate who goes first and end up with AJ and Becky to start, before Becky immediately tags out again and they brawl outside. Punk with a dive onto Seth and they brawl into the crowd. Back in the ring, Punk and AJ work Seth over in the corner and Punk goes up with the double axehandle a few times. But then Becky gets a cheapshot from the apron and the Lynches go to work on Punk outside and send him into the stairs. Back in, the heels trap Punk in the corner and Seth works him over and chokes him out. Punk comes back with a suplex but Seth cuts off the tag and we get the false tag spot. But then Rollins tries to press slam his wife onto Punk and misses. Look, we’ve all been there. So that finally allows Punk a free lane to tag AJ, but Becky cuts that off again.

Seth with the falcon arrow for two off that. But then Punk finally gets the tag to AJ and she runs wild on Becky, which gets surprisingly less heat than you’d expect. Like this match was the clear main event of the show that was drawing the interest but it just hasn’t felt like anything special. Lee with a crossbody on Becky for two. Lee is like “I’m just gonna windmill my arms like this and if you walk into them it’s your own fault!” and both Seth and Becky fall for that. Punk helps his wife out with a Sliced Bread on Seth, landing on Becky for two. We get stereo bulldogs and stereo Shining Wizards, and AJ spins into the Black Widow on Becky while Punk puts Seth in the Sharpshooter, but they both escape. The heels hit a double Pedigree for two, but Punk curb stomps Rollins after a cheapshot on AJ and slugs away on him. Becky saves and Punk tries a Sharpshooter on her, but Becky reverses to her own as we’re rapidly losing the plot here. So then Punk reverses to his own again, but Rollins breaks it up with a Pedigree on Punk and a curb stomp for two. AJ saves and Becky takes her out with a slam for two. AJ makes another comeback and we get a hockey fight from both sides, and then everyone brawls to the outside and preps the announce tables. But Becky tosses AJ into the men to smash the table, and back in the ring she tries another manhandle slam, but AJ reverses to the Black Widow and taps her out at 29:18. I don’t think this one really worked well. Started as a simple mixed tag match and then just ran way too long and meandered all over the place. ***

The Undertaker rolls out on his bike to announce that Stephanie McMahon, who is coincidentally at ringside, is our first induction into the 2026 Hall of Fame. Well at least she beat Shane there. You love to see executives honoring themselves while sitting ringside in $50,000 seats that fans can’t afford!

WWE title: Cody Rhodes v. Drew McIntyre

This doesn’t really feel like much of a main event. This one is sponsored by Minute Maid, which at least makes sense because Cody was on bottles of their lemonade when I was in Vegas. They slug it out and Cody hits him with the bionic elbow while they talk about how Cody had to leave WWE and “toil in obscurity” to earn his way back. Yeah OK. Cody takes him down and works a wristlock, but Drew bails to the apron and Cody dropkicks him off to the floor and follows with a dive. Drew tosses him into the Spanish table back in the ring for an overhead suplex to take over. Back to the floor and Drew slams him on the stairs, and back in for two. Cody comes back with a superplex and they slug it out, with Cody hitting a powerslam out of the corner and he hits a disaster kick to build some momentum after creating separation. Cody Cutter, but Drew escapes the Crossroads and they fight to the top rope, where Drew gets an Air Raid Crash for two. Drew tries the Claymore and Cody counters for two and gets the figure-four, but Drew punches out of that. He rips the turnbuckle off and rolls up Cody for two, but he misses a charge and runs into his own exposed turnbuckle, allowing Cody to hit the Crossroads for two. Drew blocks another cutter and sends him to the floor for a dive, and back in for a Claymore that gets two. Back to the floor and Drew tries to boot Cody into the table, but Drew hits the table by mistake and hurts his own leg. Back in the ring, Drew blocks the cutter with a headbutt, but his leg gives out on the Claymore and Cody hits him with a Cody Cutter and Crossroads to finish at 16:50. This was fine but Drew was booked to look like kind of a moron for some reason with the table spot. ***1/4

This was an average WWE show, except on ESPN! Or the ESPN app or whatever it is. But it definitely happened, and you can’t take that away from it. Check out the Women’s title match, skip the rest.