Tonight's episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown (September 5, 2025) was historic in many ways, including that it was not only John Cena's last appearance in Chicago, Illinois, but his final appearance on SmackDown (at least, in theory—he could always show up in the future in a non-wrestling capacity).
Cena opened the show with a promo thanking the fans and speaking about how passionate Chicago has been over the years, whether they were cheering for him or against him. After getting ready to leave, Cena was interrupted by Sami Zayn, who the crowd was not supportive of whatsoever.
Zayn wasn't there to turn heel, though. Quite the opposite. Zayn had nothing but praise for Cena, thanking him for giving him his first main roster match as Zayn had stepped up to the plate around a decade ago to answer one of Cena's United States Open Challenge matches. That match did wonders to help boost Zayn's career, and now that he is the new United States champion—winning the belt from Solo Sikoa last week on SmackDown—Zayn wanted to return the favor and offer the same challenge to Cena, putting the United States Championship on the line in an impromptu match.
This match took up the entire first hour, essentially, and had the crowd on their feet as there were several moments where Cena nearly had the championship won for the sixth time.
However, the match was ruined when Brock Lesnar made his return to SmackDown, coming out to toss the referee to the side, take out Sami Zayn, and flatten John Cena as well.
There still hasn't been any reason given for this feud and why Cena is being targeted by Lesnar. The only thing to follow was that after the commercial break, Lesnar quickly looked at a camera and said "Hey John, I'll see you at Wrestlepalooza, bitch."
It was then announced that the match has been confirmed for the show, set to go down Saturday, September 20, 2025 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. As a reminder, this will be the first premium live event to take place under the new ESPN streaming deal.
As it stands right now, this is the current card scheduled for that WWE Wrestlepalooza lineup:
- John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar
- Singles Match for the Vacated WWE Women's World Championship: Iyo Sky vs. Stephanie Vaquer
What do you think of this situation between Cena and Lesnar? Drop a comment below!