WWE killed Wrestlepalooza’s momentum with Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena opener, claims wrestling veteran (Exclusive)

Former WWE head writer Vince Russo spoke about the placement of John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza. He felt the match failed to set the tone for the rest of the show.

Lesnar and Cena kicked off Wrestlepalooza with a singles encounter. The match turned out to be one-sided as The Beast dominated John. He finally ended the contest with six F5s in an absolute decimation of the Cenation Leader. Several young fans were in tears seeing their hero completely vanquished in the one-sided affair.

On a recent episode of Brodown with host Mac Davis, Russo questioned the placement of the match. He pointed out that bookers often put high-action matches at the start to warm up the fans. The veteran writer felt Lesnar vs. Cena had the opposite effect on fans and put a damper on the entire event. He mentioned that the creative team should have spaced the show better.

"That first show is supposed to get people up. Guys, I was in TNA for ten years. How did every TNA PPV start? With an X-Division match. How did Eric Bischoff start a lot of the Nitro shows? With the luchas. Because you want that first match to get the people up and get them all excited. You do all these high spots. Everybody knows. That's booking 101, that's formatting 101. We open a show with Brock Lesnar destroying John Cena, kids crying in the crowd and then you gotta get these people up all over again? Does that make any sense?"

WWE has already planned the next opponent for John Cena. The star will face AJ Styles in a singles match at Crown Jewel in Perth, Australia.

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About the author

Prityush is a WWE news writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling who started watching wrestling in the later part of The Attitude Era. Although he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Prityush was a creative writer for his college, and his flair for creativity and love of pro wrestling eventually led him to the journalism field. After an initial stint in 2016-2017, he has been writing regularly for Sportskeeda since 2021.

As someone who loves and respects the business, he prides himself on factual, clean, and ethical reporting, free of plagiarism and AI usage. One of the ways he ensures this is by transcribing videos that he reports on.

Prityush had the privilege of interviewing superstar Matt Hardy in his career so far. Although, his favorite wrestler is CM Punk, as he relates to his Straight Edge philosophy.

When he is not reporting news, he loves reading and collecting WWE action figures. He currently owns over 500 wrestling figures and merchandise.

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Edited by Prityush Haldar