4 Ups & 5 Downs For WWE Wrestlepalooza 2025 (Results & Review)

3. Inexcusable Match Placement

There is a philosophy that the world title is a wrestling company’s top prize and thus any world title match should go on last for a PPV/PLE card.

However, there are plenty of matches that are bigger, with either the wrestlers involved or the hype itself dominating the conversation. In those situations, a world title match should take a backseat, especially when there isn’t a lot going on with said title match.

Cody Rhodes versus Drew McIntyre was a perfectly serviceable Undisputed WWE Championship match, with the American Nightmare overcoming a head injury to successfully defend his title. But the match was just a regular title match; no bells and whistles, no major post-match angle, no surprise return.

It was the third-best match on a five-match card and wasn’t even the best world title match of the night, with the Women’s World Championship easily stealing the show. The mixed tag was by far the biggest match on the card (in terms of hype and attention) and probably should have closed.

Had there been a major angle in the aftermath of Rhodes/McIntyre, it could have justified going on last. But Cody won (albeit with some referee involvement) and the show went off the air a minute later. It was an incredible letdown after the women’s title match and the mixed tag, ending the show on a down note rather than peaking with AJ winning or Stephanie Vaquer capturing her first main roster title.

Piss-poor decision-making here that should be called out.