After going back-and-forth with the headliner bout of Wrestlepalooza 2025, WWE finally offered an announcement on it just a few hours before the premium live event. As confirmed by WWE on Friday’s episode of SmackDown, Cody Rhodes will defend his Undisputed WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre in the final bout of tonight’s PLE.
It was revealed earlier this week that John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar will be kicking off Wrestlepalooza 2025 from Indianapolis, Indiana, instead of main-eventing the show. In an update via WrestleVotes on X (formerly Twitter), sources further confirmed the Undisputed WWE Championship match between Rhodes and McIntyre will end the show. The official confirmation from WWE then came on SmackDown.
This match at Wrestlepalooza 2025 was set up last week on SmackDown when Rhodes returned by the end of the show to thwart McIntyre from attacking Randy Orton. It came after The Scottish Warrior defeated The Viper in a match after hitting him with a Claymore Kick.
Wrestlepalooza 2025: Reason Scheduled Title Match For Participant Is Special At WWE PLE
Rhodes issued the challenge for his next title after McIntyre wrote him off television by sending him through the front of the commentary desk with a Claymore last month. The two also featured in a contract signing segment on Wrestlepalooza 2025 go-home episode of SmackDown, and the segment ended with McIntyre laying the champion out.
With Wrestlepalooza 2025, WWE will officially embark on a new journey with ESPN, with all its premium live events airing on the platform’s DTC service. On this occasion, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque made an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up to hype things up. He noted that, unlike how the channel usually airs the traditional sports, WWE will have a say in the narrative.
“This card is going to be huge,” Levesque mentioned, teasing surprise to be in store for the WWE-ESPN show. “Expect spectacle, expect surprises, expect to have a lot of fun, and ESPN’s going to deliver.”
WWE Wrestlepalooza 2025 PLE Match Card
Heavily promoted as the first WWE premium live event on ESPN, Wrestlepalooza 2025 will be airing on the newly launched ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming service at 7 PM Eastern Time from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday, September 20. The currently announced match card for the returning ECW show goes as follows,
– John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar
– WWE Championship Match: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
– Vacant Women’s World Championship Match: IYO SKY vs. Stephanie Vaquer
– Mixed Tag Team Match: WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins & WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch vs. CM Punk & AJ Lee
– The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) vs. The Vision (Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed)