Cody Rhodes Retains Undisputed WWE Championship Against Drew McIntyre At Wrestlepalooza 2025

The historic first WWE premium live event on the new ESPN app, Wrestlepalooza, was headlined by Cody Rhodes defending the Undisputed WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre.

After a memorable night that saw Stephanie Vaquer become the new WWE Women's World Champion, Brock Lesnar destroying John Cena and AJ Lee's return to the ring for the first time in a decade, Rhodes and McIntyre were ready to go to war to walk out with a victory on this evening.

The Match

Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre at WWE Wrestlepalooza — Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre fight in the Undisputed WWE Championship match Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, during WWE WrestlePalooza. | Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Right off the bat, fans could see the story of the match would be Drew using his size and strength advantage against a faster and technically proficient Cody.

However, a key turning point happened early when the champion stumbled on his way to a Cody Cutter showing that he wasn't fully recovered from McIntyre's previous attack.

This show of weakness saw McIntyre take advantage and go on the onslaught on Rhodes, wearing him down throughout the bout with various moves, such as busting out his real life friend Sheamus' Avalanche White Noise.

Using his wrestling ability, Rhodes would also find a way to get some offense in to make sure that McIntyre was not able to sustain his control over the bout for too long.

Getting desperate, Drew went to one of the corners and proceeded to rip the turnbuckle pad off despite the referee's protest. This led to the ref having to jump out of the ring to get out of the way of the competitors, which caused him to miss McIntyre having the cover for an apparent three count.

Rhodes would eventually regain control when McIntyre ran into the exposed turnbuckle and got laid out with the Cross Rhodes. However, Drew was able to kick out before the count of three.

CROSS RHODES!!

Drew McIntyre almost just got immediate karma at #Wrestlepalooza! 😲

Stream Wrestlepalooza RIGHT NOW on the @espn App: https://t.co/jKAIj8nxxt pic.twitter.com/5GvV8L99R8
— WWE (@WWE) September 21, 2025

After gaining an advantage again outside of the ring, Drew followed up with the Claymore and covered the champion, but "The American Nightmare" was able to kick out and avoid losing his gold.

Another turning point saw McIntyre set up for the Claymore through the bottom of the commentary table again like how he took out Rhodes previously, but the referee got in his way.

This distraction caused Drew to miss Cody on the Claymore and injure his knee by crashing through the commentary table himself. With his knee banged up, it caused an untimely limp on McIntyre going for the Claymore, which led to another Cody Cutter and the Cross Rhodes for the champ to retain.

The moment 👏 #Wrestlepalooza https://t.co/PvUVUGlpIS pic.twitter.com/CcjWhkSX2V
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 21, 2025

In another case of being wronged in big time title matches, McIntyre will have a claim to another title shot after the referee was his undoing on several different occasions throughout this WWE Wrestlepalooza 2025 main event.

Meanwhile, Cody gets to continue hold the throne atop of the company as Undisputed WWE Champion and closing the historic first premium live event to air live on the new ESPN direct-to-consumer app.

After the controversy surrounding this bout, it remains to be seen if Wrestlepalooza will be the last meeting for the Undisputed WWE Championship between Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre.

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