{"id":21301,"date":"2026-05-31T22:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T22:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/21301\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T22:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T22:52:11","slug":"wwe-clash-in-italy-results-reactions-old-habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/21301\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE Clash in Italy results & reactions: Old Habits"},"content":{"rendered":"

WWE hit us with a rare midday (in the States) Premium Live Event from Turin, Italy today. Check out Claire\u2019s live blog <\/a>for a blow by blow account if you missed it. The show is available for replay with an ESPN<\/a> subscription here in the U.S., or a Netflix one most other places around the world.<\/p>\n

To the surprise of probably no one, Roman Reigns was victorious in Tribal Combat and is still your Tribal Chief.<\/p>\n

The most fascinating part of the early stages of this latest Reigns title run, at least to me, is the fact he immediately fell back into his old ways. He immediately recruited the Usos to be by his side and has used them in 3-on-1s against Fatu. He needed an exposed turnbuckle to save his hide from a on-and-done title run at Backlash. And tonight, he brought back the kick out low blow that was a staple of the early matches during his long heel run.<\/p>\n

Now this was Tribal Combat and nothing is illegal, which is noteworthy. And Roman really won the match when he smashed Fatu\u2019s hand with a toolbox, taking the Tongan Grip out of the equation. But going to the low blow during the kick out is a specific call back to the dirty tactics he used in the past and that\u2019s not unintentional. And of course, for those who aren\u2019t as into the subtlety, LA Knight is pretty much spelling it out for us on Monday Night Raw.<\/p>\n

This tells us a couple things about the character and what makes it so fascinating moving forward:<\/p>\n

1) To a good degree, since 2021, Roman Reigns has never been a babyface. Even when he reunited with the Usos and Sami Zayn after his title loss, he never apologized for all his misdeeds. He\u2019s always been clear that it\u2019s \u201cDo whatever I must to support the family.\u201d It was just that he ended up going against folks we didn\u2019t like as we learned to like him. But did he really change from his most dastardly days? Not really.<\/p>\n

2) Cody Rhodes was the one who said he was addicted to the title on Friday\u2019s SmackDown<\/a>, but it\u2019s Roman Reigns who seems to be falling into old habits the moment he won the gold from CM Punk in Las Vegas. He seemed OK to go it alone when he wasn\u2019t champion but the moment he wins it, he has to get his Bloodline back? Immediately going to old tricks he needed in the past? Roman likes to seem like he\u2019s in control, but maybe that title controls him.<\/p>\n

All this is why Roman is a great champion. Unlike Cody Rhodes (who I actually quite like as a champion) who is a white meat babyface, Roman has more layers they\u2019re willing to explore. And I think we\u2019re exploring one now in regards to who he is willing to be to be not just the champion, but Tribal Chief.<\/p>\n

And what about Jacob Fatu?<\/p>\n

Well, you can\u2019t look much better in a loss than he did. He stood toe-to-toe with the champion and gave him hell. (He also looked like he wasn\u2019t<\/a> limited by any injury<\/a>.) Deep into the match, not only did he no sell two Superman Punches, but he did his little shimmy after \u2014 something I found quite hilarious. And like at Backlash, Roman needed the exposed turnbuckle to put Fatu to bed. Not just one time, but a series of them followed by a spear through a table and another spear. Yeah, Jacob is a tough mother\u2026<\/p>\n

It was a fun brawl and a show worthy closer.<\/p>\n

It also leaves a great hook for tomorrow\u2019s Raw where now not only must Jacob acknowledge Roman, but he needs to work for him too. I still don\u2019t see the Werewolf, neutered or not to borrow a choice phrase from Michael Cole, doing that.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s going to be something I\u2019m excited to tune in for, almost as excited to watch how this latest title reign corrupts our Tribal Chief.<\/p>\n

(I\u2019m not going to really get in at Solo & his MFTs staring down Roman from the crowd post match, other than to say Reigns should not be wasting time with a guy who is booked more like a comedy loser than someone who should share the ring again with the Tribal Chief.)<\/p>\n

We opened up the night with the WWE title match. As Edge (sorry Cope) once said on his podcast \u2014 if you\u2019re not on last, you want to be on first. You get that hot crowd who are just ready to make some noise.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what we got here. The crowd was super hot for this match, as they were for most of the show.<\/p>\n

And for the most part, the match lived up to its end of the bargain. It was well paced from the jump with little time to breathe. No prolonged rest holds. (I don\u2019t consider the sleeper a rest hold since it\u2019s Gunther\u2019s finish.) It was a strong opening match.<\/p>\n

Cody earned the 1-2-3 on a Crossroads. But drama! Gunther had his foot under the rope and the referee didn\u2019t see it. This is clearly meant to prolong the feud, which in itself makes sense given it was too soon to crown Gunther here but you can\u2019t just beat him after he retired John Cena & AJ Styles. But they could have done it at a point in the match where it still felt rewarding.<\/p>\n

But this bout hadn\u2019t hit that crescendo where you\u2019d expect a finish. It felt we were maybe in the 6th or 7th inning, to use one of the champ\u2019s preferred analogies. That 1-2-3 let the air out of the balloon right fast.<\/p>\n

It was still an enjoyable match and that\u2019s an angle you can get away with in the beginning of the show compared to the end. However it was a missed opportunity to start this show off with a bang \u2014 not even with a title change or even a different finish, but a finish that didn\u2019t seem to be rushed.<\/p>\n

\u201c1 + 1 = You\u2019re Done B*tch\u201d<\/p>\n

Folks, it looks like we have a trilogy on our hands.<\/p>\n

Brock Lesnar defeated Oba Femi to knot the series at 1 to 1 and we\u2019re likely to bring this home at SummerSlam in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Even in a loss, they still did enough to make Oba Femi look like a boss.<\/p>\n

The match started with what could only be considered a rookie mistake. Femi took his eyes off Lesnar for a second when he took off his beaded necklace. The Beast bum rushed him and delivered four F5s. And I\u2019ll tell you, I was worried they were going to just end it there.<\/p>\n

Then Paul Heyman called for the Kimura Lock and Brock had that locked on for awhile. But in impressive fashion, Oba stood up when the submission still locked in.<\/p>\n

There was an F5 through the table that could have put the Ruler away but Femi popped up to beat the count. He went on a mini tear in the ring but Lesnar was able to jump out of the Fall From Grace, partially due to Oba\u2019s arm still feeling the Kimura, and hit a final F5 for the win.<\/p>\n

This was a fun hoss fight and Brock still put over Oba with some of his shocked facial expressions when he couldn\u2019t put his foe away – something the Beast is very good at. However, I have never been a fan of Brock\u2019s F5 spam matches that\u2019s what we got here. It would be effective if he rarely had these type of matches to demonstrate just how tough the Ruler is. But he\u2019s had them enough that it felt lazy.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t detract from the match too much for me as it was still quite the spectacle. But I hope round three avoids that trope.<\/p>\n

When I watch a Jade Cargill match, I\u2019m often playing close attention to how she looks in the ring. Especially in a match like today where I don\u2019t think she has a chance to actually win. I think her title match in Turin was probably the best match she\u2019s had in WWE.<\/p>\n

Part of that is that Rhea\u2019s a great match-up for her. They\u2019re both powerhouses so the pace can be reasonably slower. But in this match, you didn\u2019t catch her thinking about the next move. It flowed well. It\u2019s a situation where this feud was able to elevate her despite losing the title during the program.<\/p>\n

Before getting into the finish, I want to point out two things I appreciated about this match. One was Ripley rolling through a Jaded and going into a stomp, a movie her friend Iyo Sky performs frequently. The other was when they went through the same sequence that they ended the match at WrestleMania \u2014 Jaded into a Riptide. But this time, Jade reversed the Riptide into a big DDT. Those type of call backs I appreciate as it tells the story of a competitor learning from their prior mistakes.<\/p>\n

The finishes included the biggest botch of the match. Rhea hit Riptide but B-Fab (who had come down to the ring with Michin just prior) put Jade\u2019s foot on the rope. Or at least she tried. She just couldn\u2019t reach it and in the end, Jade just put it up herself.<\/p>\n

(You can argue that they shouldn\u2019t have run the foot on\/under the ropes angle matches back to back, but they already promised both matches to ESPN.)<\/p>\n

This brought out Charlotte, still looking for revenge for what Jade did to Alexa Bliss on SmackDown. She landed a crossbody from the barricade onto both of the challenger\u2019s henchwomen. However, that distraction led to Rhea taking a Jaded. This time Charlotte returned the favor and placed the champions foot on the rope (without any issue). Rhea soon hit a Riptide for a win.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be interested to see what they do with Jade going forward. But it\u2019s clear that her feud with Rhea Ripley did what was intended: It elevated her.<\/p>\n

Can we talk about how ridiculous it is that Jessika Carr\u2019s the referee for every single Becky Lynch match?<\/p>\n

That has to be intentional at this point. And I\u2019m talking about within the storyline because of course it\u2019s an intentional creative move. Adam Pierce has to be screwing with Lynch because no one has the same referee for every match even when there aren\u2019t issues. But they certainly wouldn\u2019t continue to assign the same referee when there\u2019s obvious animosity that affects matches. Bill Vinovich<\/a> hasn\u2019t refereed a regular season New Orleans Saints game since 2019 for a reason. That\u2019s not to say they\u2019ve booked Carr to poorly officiate Lynch\u2019s matches, but Lynch has messed with Carr enough that you can imagine why she could be biased at this point.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a degree of this that\u2019s just silly wrestling. But they\u2019ve been doing this so often that it needs to be leading somewhere. Carr is a wrestler so at this point, we should just book Lynch vs. Carr. Otherwise we\u2019re starting distract from the matches.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the main takeaway. Because Sol Ruca won the match! She hit a good looking Sol Snatcher on Lynch to win the Intercontinental title! (This is the third time Becky Lynch has lost that title.) And some of this is surely me allowing myself to get distracted with the Carr\/Lynch stuff, but it\u2019s surely a focus of a lot of Lynch\u2019s matches. There were two spots that involved Carr. One when she rolled out of the ring to avoid getting in the way but then was late to count three on a Lynch roll up. And another when Lynch tossed Carr in the ropes when Sol was on the top turnbuckle, causing Ruca to slip.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to say Ruca \u201cneeded the win\u201d given she just got called up. But they made a big deal about her 0-2 start so they kind of had to do the change here. Let\u2019s see if her reign ends differently than losing it back to Lynch, but Lynch should be more focused on her upcoming SummerSlam match against Jessika Carr.<\/p>\n

This was an over strong showing for their first ever Italy PLE. The real blemish was the weird finish for the first match, and I don\u2019t love the F5 spamming, but everything else was strong.<\/p>\n

Sound off in the comments below.<\/p>\n

\"Sean<\/a>\"Cage<\/p>\n

What was the Match of the Night at WWE Clash in Italy?<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Clash in Italy<\/a> is in the books.<\/p>\n

WWE’s May 31 PLE from Turin closed with a neutered Jacob Fatu<\/a> following The Usos out after his Tribal Combat loss to WWE World Heavyweight champion Roman Reigns. It also featured Cody Rhodes<\/a> and Rhea Ripley<\/a> successfully defending their titles, Becky Lynch failing to retain hers over Sol Ruca<\/a>, and Brock Lesnar<\/a> getting his win back from Oba Femi.<\/p>\n

Which of them should be called “Match of the Night”?<\/p>\n

That’s up to you, at least around here.<\/p>\n

Closes in 7 days \u2022 27 total votesView results<\/p>\n

Roman Reigns vs. Jacob FatuBecky Lynch vs. Sol RucaOba Femi vs. Brock LesnarRhea Ripley vs. Jade CargillCody Rhodes vs. GuntherRec 0CommentsThin Stroke Comment Icon BubbleReply<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WWE hit us with a rare midday (in the States) Premium Live Event from Turin, Italy today. Check…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3526,5,615,4726,10569],"class_list":["post-21301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-clash-in-italy","tag-italy","tag-wwe","tag-wwe-raw","tag-wwe-smackdown"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}