Brock Lesnar battles John Cena at WWE Wrestlepalooza 2025.
WWE
Brock Lesnar destroyed John Cena at WWE Wrestlepalooza 2025 with several F-5’s. Lesnar reunited with Paul Heyman, dominated the match early, and after a brief Cena comeback, Lesnar took control and obliterated Cena with a series of F-5’s.
After the match, Lesnar assaulted WWE officials and laid Cena out with another F-5.
Brock Lesnar Vs. John Cena Highlights | WWE Wrestlepalooza 2025
- Brock Lesnar was as massive as he’s ever been, and also shredded. “You could watch a movie on his back,” Michael Cole remarked. Pat McAfee questioned if Brock Lesnar was over 330 lbs.
- Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar reunited after a tease last night on SmackDown. Heyman interrupted Alicia Taylor’s introduction of Brock Lesnar and delivered one of his own. Heyman is now aligned with the Vision and Brock Lesnar. Could a Brock Lesnar vs. Bron Breakker match be too far behind?
- Lesnar destroyed John Cena, hitting several F-5’s for a one-sided victory. Lesnar kicked out of three consecutive AAs beforehand. Michael Cole called it a “hellacious, uncomfortable beatdown.”
John Cena announced his retirement last year, and his retirement tour has been a mixed bag highlighted (or lowlighted) by a heel turn at WWE Elimination Chamber. Heel Cena was not treated as a supervillain as fans refused to boo the legend in his final year of wrestling, for now. Cena’s abrupt face-turn coincided with a WWE Championship loss to Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam in one of his greatest matches ever. Shortly thereafter, Brock Lesnar made a surprise return to WWE, sticking John Cena with an F5.
The Brock Lesnar-John Cena feud was one-sided. Lesnar has laid out Cena with two F-5’s since Brock’s SummerSlam return. During his final appearance on SmackDown on September 5, Cena cut a heartfelt promo on Brock from his home state of Massachusetts, admitting he was scared of stepping into the ring with the Beast one last time. Lesnar only validated these concerns last night on SmackDown when he bullied Michael Cole and delivered an F5 to Corey Graves for intervening.
Cena vs. Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza marks the end of an era and a finish to a generational rivalry comparable to Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock and Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels. As two crown jewels from WWE’s loaded 2002 recruiting class, Cena and Lesnar are the last vestiges of WWE’s Ruthless Aggression Era. WWE effectively told their story through a series of vignettes that documented their career paths and highly competitive rivalry.
What’s Next For John Cena And Brock Lesnar?
John Cena has a limited number of dates left with WWE as his retirement tour comes to a close. These last few months will focus on Cena’s redemption tour within the retirement tour. As WWE prepares for Cena’s final match, outside debates will center around whether Cena will go out on top as part of a happy ending, or if he will put over a rising star from the next generation. Either scenario has merit, and can to one of 2025’s most emotional moments, but it might not matter.
The word retirement in wrestling is like the term “plans change” in wrestling media. Especially when wrestling media gets a story wrong, which happens often. WWE recently announced WrestleMania 43 for Saudi Arabia. Given the nine-figure income the promotion is reportedly receiving from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the all-hands-on-deck show could possibly feature—at the very least—a John Cena appearance. At most? A John Cena return match, just two years after retirement, which is on brand for most wrestling legends.
Brock Lesnar is now back in the fold with WWE, and the initial tribally fueled, bad-faith fake outrage has proved to be just that. Fake. WWE fans embraced Lesnar upon his return, and in the words of Lesnar’s advocate Paul Heyman “You can’t cancel Brock Lesnar.”
Lesnar had a run-in with Paul Heyman during last night’s appearance on SmackDown. “We should talk,” said Lesnar, before storming off. Lesnar’s dominant win tells me WWE is teeing him up for Bron Breakker. I could see Lesnar’s WrestleMania feud being against Bron Breakker, setting up a similar dynamic to the WrestleMania 41 main event where Heyman’s loyalty was sprinkled across CM Punk, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins throughout the course of the match. WWE booked another storyline for Heyman’s affection in 2023, where Heyman ultimately turned on Brock Lesnar at the behest of Roman Reigns during the 2022 Royal Rumble.
Always one step ahead, and one generation ahead, Heyman’s next betrayal will likely be of Brock Lesnar, in favor of Bron Breakker.