Background in
Indianapolis, Indiana.
Wrestlepalooza was the name of a
professional wrestling event produced by the former
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) that was held in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2000—the 1998 iteration aired on
pay-per-view (PPV) while the others were live events partially syndicated across television. In 2003,
WWE acquired the assets of ECW from bankruptcy. Over 20 years later on August 20, 2025, WWE officially announced the return of Wrestlepalooza, scheduled for Saturday, September 20 at the
Gainbridge Fieldhouse in
Indianapolis, Indiana and it was held for wrestlers from the promotions
Raw and
SmackDown brand divisions. The event was part of a deal between WWE and the Indiana Sports Corp, which includes a future
SummerSlam and
WrestleMania that will be held in Indianapolis as well as a
Royal Rumble, which occurred
earlier in the year. The deal also includes
Monday Night Raw and
Friday Night SmackDown tapings and "other select events" which Wrestlepalooza fell under. After the announcement,
Paul "Triple H" Levesque,
CM Punk, and
Seth Rollins conducted interviews over various
ESPN shows including
First Take and
SportsCenter with Levesque announcing that
Pat McAfee would return at the event. Tickets for the event went on sale on August 22, 2025. According to
WrestleTix on
X, over 8,000 tickets were sold within the first 24 hours. The official theme song of the event was "
Nokia" by
Drake. Wrestlepalooza was originally scheduled to go head-to-head with rival company
All Elite Wrestling (AEW), airing against AEW's
All Out PPV
event. This would have been WWE's first main roster PPV and
livestreaming event to counterprogram an AEW PPV; previously, only select NXT livestreaming events had aired directly against AEW's PPVs. However, on September 3, 2025, AEW announced All Out's start time would be pushed up to 3 p.m.
Eastern Time, avoiding a direct conflict with Wrestlepalooza.
Broadcast outlets Outside of the United States, the event was available to livestream on
Netflix, with a select few countries still on the
WWE Network due to pre-existing contracts. In the United States, the event was the first covered by a five-year agreement between WWE and
ESPN Inc., under which main roster events stream exclusively on the
ESPN app for subscribers to its networks. The agreement succeeds one with
Peacock, which concluded after
Clash in Paris the prior month, although Peacock maintains
NXT's livestreaming events until March 2026, as well as other select WWE content. This switchover to ESPN was originally to begin with
WrestleMania 42 in April 2026, but by a technicality, WWE fulfilled their obligations to Peacock early. Wrestlepalooza was exclusively available via both ESPN's "Unlimited" direct-to-consumer subscription, as well as via
TV Everywhere authentication for subscribers via participating television providers. Not all television providers reached agreements at launch to carry the new service, with major holdouts including
Altice,
Cox,
Dish Network,
Xfinity, and
YouTube TV. ESPN stated that it planned to reach agreements with most of these providers by the end of 2025. ESPN and other
Disney properties heavily promoted Wrestlepalooza during the lead up to the event: WWE talent appeared on programming such as
First Take,
Get Up,
ESPN College Football,
Sunday Night Baseball (where
Jey Uso delivered the
ceremonial first pitch at an ESPN-televised
Major League Baseball game),
SportsCenter, and
Good Morning America.
ESPN2 televised a Wrestlepalooza preview special on September 19, while ESPN's social media platforms streamed a two-hour
Road to Wrestlepalooza pre-show prior to WWE's official kickoff show, which was hosted by
O'Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson.
Storylines The event included five matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows,
Monday Night Raw and
Friday Night SmackDown. After losing the
Undisputed WWE Championship in the main event of Night 2 of
SummerSlam,
John Cena was confronted and attacked by returning longtime rival
Brock Lesnar, making his first appearance since the
2023 SummerSlam. On the September 5 episode of
SmackDown, Lesnar interfered in Cena's match, causing the match to end in a no-contest, and attacked Cena once again. Following the attack, Lesnar called Cena a "bitch" and stated that he would see Cena at Wrestlepalooza. A match between both men was subsequently confirmed for the event. At the all-women's event
Evolution, Raw's
Stephanie Vaquer won the
Evolution Battle Royal to earn a
women's world championship match at
Clash in Paris, while later that night,
Naomi cashed-in her
Money in the Bank contract during Raw's
Women's World Champion Iyo Sky's title defense to win the championship. The next night on
Raw, it was confirmed that Vaquer's match would be for the Women's World Championship. Subsequently, at SummerSlam the following month, Naomi retained the title in a
triple threat match also involving Sky, although Sky was not pinned. On the following episode of
Raw, it was revealed that the reason the match was cancelled was because Naomi would have to relinquish the title due to
maternity leave, as she announced she was pregnant with her first child. The following week, Raw General Manager
Adam Pearce announced that a match for the
vacant Women's World Championship would not take place at Clash in Paris, and instead, Vaquer would challenge a
to be announced opponent at a later date to determine the new champion, which Pearce would address the following week, where Pearce announced that Vaquer would face Sky for the vacant title at Wrestlepalooza. Following
WrestleMania 41, Jey Uso had been involved in a rivalry against
The Vision (Seth Rollins,
Bron Breakker, and
Bronson Reed). At Night 1 of SummerSlam, Jey defeated Breakker and Reed in a
tag team match, and Jey subsequently competed in a
fatal four-way match for Rollins'
World Heavyweight Championship which also involved
LA Knight at Clash in Paris in a losing effort. The following night on
Raw, Jey and Knight subsequently lost a tag team match against Breakker and Reed, with Breakker pinning Jey. Following the match, Breakker and Reed attacked Jey which prompted his twin brother, SmackDown's
Jimmy Uso to come out and aid Jey. Over the following weeks, innumerable altercations between Jey and Knight happened, and after an altercation between The Usos and Breakker and Reed during the
Countdown to Wrestlepalooza show, Pearce announced that Knight would be the
special guest referee for the match. competed in her first professional wrestling match since March 2015.|left In the main event of Night 1 of SummerSlam, CM Punk won the World Heavyweight Championship, however, his longtime rival Seth Rollins cashed-in his Money in the Bank contract on Punk and won the championship. A month later on the September 12 episode of
SmackDown, after McIntyre defeated Rhodes's longtime friend,
Randy Orton, McIntyre was about to perform a Claymore Kick on Orton through the announce table, however, Rhodes returned and assisted Orton. Following a brawl with McIntyre, Rhodes stated that he would see McIntyre at Wrestlepalooza and a title match was subsequently confirmed for the event. ==Event==