WWE gets early ESPN start with John Cena-led Wrestlepalooza

WWE’s first premium live event of the ESPN era is coming early and going head-to-head with its biggest competition.

WWE announced the first-ever Wrestlepalooza will air Saturday, Sept. 20, from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, live on ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service beginning at 7 p.m. ET. 

The event will run directly against All Elite Wrestling’s All Out pay-per-view from Toronto’s ScotiaBank Arena starting at 6 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime, regularly for $49.99 per show.  

WWE announced a five-year, $1.6 billion deal with ESPN earlier this month for the right to stream its premium live events, which was supposed to begin in 2026. Now it appears WWE’s PLE deal with Peacock ends after Clash in Paris on Aug. 31. 

ESPN’s new service, which launches on Aug. 21, will carry all WWE PLEs moving forward. Customers with the service’s unlimited plan, which costs $29.99 per month, will be able to stream the WWE PLEs. There is also a Select Plan for $11.99 per month.

Currently, those who have ESPN via DirecTV, Charter Communications, Hulu + LiveTV, FuboTV and Verizon Fios will have access to the WWE PLEs at no additional charge, according to an ESPN spokesperson.

Wrestlepalooza, which is the name of a former ECW event, marks the first time WWE will run a main roster PLE directly up against an AEW pay-per-view. All Out is one of the company’s four original PPVs. 

WWE announced that John Cena will make a stop on his retirement tour at Wrestlepalooza, with the rumor being that it will be where he will clash with Brock Lesnar. 

WWE champion Cody Rhodes, current rival Drew McIntyre, World Heavyweight champion Seth Rollins, CM Punk and Women’s Intercontinental champion Becky Lynch were also announced for the show.   

WWE continued its attempts to counterprogram AEW by running NXT’s Great American Bash show and a “Saturday Night’s Main Event” headlined by Goldberg’s retirement match against Gunther, up against AEW’s biggest show of the year, All In, in July. 

The move saw AEW president Tony Khan turn All In into the longest televised pro wrestling show in U.S. history at eight hours, including the preshow, to counterprogram WWE’s counterprogramming

All In still did an estimated 180,000 to 185,000, according to the Wrestling Observer.