Brock Lesnar Beats John Cena in Historic WWE Wrestlepalooza Match on ESPN

In his first match since 2023, Brock Lesnar defeated John Cena at WWE Wrestlepalooza on Saturday in dominant fashion.

Lesnar made his shocking return to WWE programming at SummerSlam last month after Cena dropped the WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes in the main event. The Beast Incarnate immediately set his sights on Cena, laying him out with an F-5.

While Lesnar was off television for the next few weeks, Cena entered into a rivalry with Logan Paul, which saw him beat Paul at Clash in Paris.

Amid the feud between Cena and Paul, SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis informed Cena that he had spoken with Lesnar, which laid the groundwork for the 10-time world champion's appearance on the Sept. 5 episode of SmackDown.

At the start of that show, Cena cut a promo in which he noted it would be his last appearance on SmackDown as an active competitor. He was interrupted by United States champion Sami Zayn, who challenged him to a title match right then and there.

Cena accepted, and the two Superstars did battle in a back-and-forth affair that had the live crowd captivated, but there was no clear winner because Lesnar arrived and took both of them out.

Lesnar hit Cena with an F-5 once again, creating even more animosity between them and officially setting up their showdown at Wrestlepalooza.

Cena and Lesnar are longtime rivals, as they spent time in OVW together before both making their WWE main roster debuts in 2002. From there, they went on to become two of the biggest stars in the history of the business.

Over the years, Lesnar and Cena clashed in tons of high-stakes matches, but prior to Wrestlepalooza, they hadn't faced each other in a one-on-one match since 2014.

Given that Cena is retiring as an in-ring wrestler at the end of 2025, it is only fitting that he locked horns with one of his greatest rivals at least one more time.

Lesnar may have gotten the last laugh by beating Cena at Wrestlepalooza, although there is still time for them to potentially have a rematch over the next few months.