WWE’s been making headlines this week. On Wednesday, August 20, the company revealed that Premium Live Events will move to ESPN much sooner than expected, with Clash in Paris on August 31 serving as the final show on Peacock. Nearly three weeks later, WWE will debut its first-ever Wrestlepalooza on September 20 in Indianapolis, streaming on ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service.
But that wasn’t all. In an email blast sent to fans and media, the sports-entertainment giant teased that Wrestlepalooza will feature John Cena against “an opponent he hasn’t faced in more than a decade.”
It didn’t take long for the internet to start guessing. The announcement hit X (formerly Twitter) and instantly turned into a name-drop free-for-all. The names that kept popping up? Brock Lesnar was the frontrunner, especially since he returned at SummerSlam to drop Cena with an F-5. Their last singles clash was Night of Champions in 2014, which means it really has been more than a decade. Wade Barrett’s name floated around too—he and Cena wrapped up their feud back in 2010 at TLC, making the timeline fit. A few fans even tossed Kurt Angle into the mix, though their final singles showdown was all the way back at Survivor Series 2005, nearly 20 years ago.
Edge, Alberto Del Rio, and Chris Jericho also made cameo appearances in the speculation threads, with people tallying up the years since Cena’s crossed paths with each of them. But whether it’s an old rival like Lesnar or a surprise return from deeper in the vault, fans are already treating Wrestlepalooza like a throwback event years in the making.
Predictions aside, Wrestlepalooza is a major move. It’s WWE’s first PLE under its $1.6 billion deal with ESPN, which was supposed to start in 2026 but got bumped up. The show streams live at 7 p.m. ET the same night AEW’s All Out runs from Toronto—meaning WWE is going head-to-head with its biggest rival. The Indianapolis card will also feature Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Drew McIntyre, and CM Punk, with tickets going on sale August 22 and presale on August 21, per the official press release.
For Cena, the timing is deliberate. At Money in the Bank 2024, he confirmed that 2025 would be his final year in WWE. Then just last week on The Tonight Show, he got real: “My body is screaming at me to close the chapter.” He joked about looking younger than he is—“I’m 48, man. I’ll be 49 next year”—before reflecting with gratitude. “I’m grateful, very grateful to say that the WWE has given me almost 25 years to go out and do my thing and be invisible and it’s been fantastic,” he told host Jimmy Fallon.
While Wrestlepalooza is being billed as his final match in Indianapolis—and one of the biggest on his farewell tour—he’s still slated to face Logan Paul at the end of the month.