WWE Wrestlepalooza preview — Cena-Lesnar to kick off ESPN’s first PLE

As a service to fans who have a general interest in WWE but might not have watched a match in months, we’re happy to provide this FAQ as a guide to Wrestlepalooza, which is Saturday at 7 p.m. ET from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. ESPN’s first Premium Live Event with WWE, Wrestlepalooza, is streaming exclusively in the U.S. for fans with a subscription to the ESPN Unlimited plan — either directly or through a traditional pay TV package — on the ESPN App.

What is a Wrestlepalooza?

Back in 1995, the late, great Extreme Championship Wrestling had an idea: What if there was an event that took its name from Lollapalooza, but instead of a music festival featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers, it was a wrestling show that featured The Public Enemy and The Gangstas, in a tag team stretcher match?

WWE, which acquired ECW and its trademarks in 2003, wanted to kick off its new ESPN rights deal with a special Premium Live Event (PLE) that needed a memorable name. So WWE dipped into its deep bag of wrestling intellectual properties and decided on Wrestlepalooza. (Apologies to those who were hoping for “Barbed Wire, Hoodies & Chokeslams,” another ECW pay-per-view classic.)

Despite its roots, there aren’t a lot of extreme wrestling matches on this weekend’s Wrestlepalooza. Just extremely interesting ones, such as John Cena continuing his retirement tour against the formidable Brock Lesnar.

What has the John Cena retirement tour been like?

Here’s a summary of why “the last time is now” for Cena: Cena announced at Money in the Bank in July 2024 that he will retire as an in-ring performer at the end of 2025. His goal was gold: Cena was tied with Ric Flair for the most WWE world championships (16), and now the clock was…