WWE wanted to hype Wrestlepalooza as another WrestleMania-esque premium live event ahead of the announcement that WrestleMania 43 will be in Saudi Arabia in 2027. Part of the hype for the newest PLE included John Cena, who is now on the final leg of his retirement tour, taking on career-long rival Brock Lesnar, who made a surprise return to conclude the company’s first-ever two-night SummerSlam. Many fans were unsure if Lesnar would ever return to the company, so seeing him hit his F5 on Cena was truly shocking. That all sounds exciting as can be, but sadly, the build-up to the match hasn’t exactly cemented the main event of Wrestlepalooza as the most exciting match on the card.

The excitement, or lack thereof, in some cases, around Lesnar’s SummerSlam return is kind of where things stopped dead for this dud of a match. The promos haven’t been good. Lesnar has looked blown up by just delivering F5s in the ring, which was really noticeable during is extremely lackluster segment alongside R-Truth on last week’s “SmackDown.” I don’t think any of us ever thought that the most exciting aspect of a Lesnar appearance would be the fact he ripped his pants, SpongeBob style, in the middle of the ring.  

Cena hasn’t been much better, with his final appearance before Wrestlepalooza taking place on “WWE Raw” on Monday in Springfield, Massachusetts, close to where he went to college. The promo wasn’t much of anything outside of a “hello” to his hometown crowd and a push for fans to watch Wrestlepalooza on ESPN on Saturday. While Lesnar wasn’t advertised, I kind of thought he might be there to deliver another F5 to Cena. Since he wasn’t, it leads me to believe he’s going to emerge victorious on Saturday, perhaps laying out “The Never Seen 17” to give him some time off before his final five appearances. And that is indeed just how many appearances Cena has left after Saturday and all of them are announced.

This match is just a dud for me overall, due to the build, and the fact I highly doubt the in-ring action is going to be anything to write home about. Cena has been showing off in his last few singles matches Sami Zayn, Logan Paul, and Cody Rhodes, but after seeing Lesnar sucking wind after just hitting his finisher, I don’t have much confidence, especially how good and enjoyable those bouts were. 

Lesnar’s controversies aside, this was a questionable decision for Cena’s retirement tour, with the likes of AJ Styles, Dominik Mysterio, GUNTHER, and more stars that Cena has even named himself, available to go head-to-head with the star. Lesnar’s controversies considered, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a good enough match to risk even just the fan discourse and unhappiness and a potential dark cloud toward the end of Cena’s farewell tour, as the failed heel run did enough damage as it is.

Written by Daisy Ruth