The inaugural WWE Wrestlepalooza premium live event was a major business milestone for the company, but it was not a critical success in the eyes of their new broadcast partner, ESPN, and that has reportedly caused some surprise within WWE. According to a new report from WrestleVotes Radio, there are people within WWE who were “stunned” that ESPN published an article giving the company’s first-ever PLE on the platform a “C” grade.
The report states that people within WWE were openly wondering why the sports and entertainment network would want the “online stigma” of a negative review for what they considered a “fairly ordinary” or “fairly standard” WWE event. The ESPN review, which became a major topic of conversation on social media, stated that the show “fell a little short of expectations” and that the match between Stephanie Vaquer and IYO SKY was the highlight that saved it from an even lower grade.
The lukewarm reception from ESPN was in contrast to the internal feeling within WWE, where the show was reportedly viewed as a solid, if not spectacular, effort. The situation was further commented on by AEW star Ricochet, who took to social media to praise his own company’s All Out event, which took place on the same day, and to mock WWE for being on a sports network after positioning itself as “sports entertainment.”
Wrestlepalooza featured the in-ring return of Brock Lesnar and AJ Lee, as well as championship matches. The show was designed to be a major event to kick off the new five-year partnership with ESPN, a deal that is a significant key to WWE’s future media rights strategy.
As the partnership continues, it will be interesting to see how ESPN’s coverage of WWE events evolves and how WWE reacts to the critical feedback from ESPN. WWE returns with its next PLE October 11th with Crown Jewel.
On today’s episode of WrestleVotes Radio, we dive into the futures of Brock Lesnar & Logan Paul, internal reaction to ESPN’s PLE debut, John Cena’s incoming final match announcement, and much more!
Join us: https://t.co/XvvJw5wbNs
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) September 25, 2025
