WWE Clash in Italy 2026 Review

Linus O'Howell
Jun 1
4 min read

Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes VS Gunther

Clash in Italy 2026 kicked off with Gunther returning to Europe to challenge Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship! The crowd were loud throughout this match, which is what we’ve come to expect from European crowds, but I think they were pretty impressive given the fact that this match wasn’t that exciting! Due to it being on ESPN, this match went pretty quickly, with Cody hitting a Cross Rhodes early on, whilst Gunther then attempted multiple sleeper holds, which Rhodes was able to get out of! Cody then delivered a second Cody Cutter/Cross Rhodes combo, leading to the referee counting to 3, despite the fact that Gunther had his foot under the bottom rope! The Ring General was rightly aggrieved by this, especially as the referee did nothing, despite the fact that he saw a replay of the incident on a big screen! Honestly, I wasn’t even that disappointed with this result as I knew that Cody Rhodes was going to win, but it’s just so boring!

Grade: C

WWE Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley VS Jade Cargill

The second match on ESPN saw Rhea Ripley and Jade Cargill clash in a WrestleMania rematch for the WWE Women’s Championship! I could make an argument that this was the best match of Jade Cargill’s career, and I could also make an argument that this was the best match on this entire card! Unlike their match at WrestleMania, Rhea and Jade were actually given a good amount of time here, with Ripley getting the most out of Cargill that she probably could’ve! However, the last couple of minutes in this match drove me insane, with Michin and B-Fab running down to help Jade by putting her foot on the rope! Guess what, Charlotte Flair then arrived to take both of them out, before she put Rhea’s foot on the rope! I honestly felt like this was WWE taking the mick, because this was ridiculous! A Riptide later was enough for Ripley to successfully retain her WWE Women’s Championship, and yeah, this was pretty good up until the ending!

Grade: C+

Brock Lesnar VS Oba Femi

The second hour of Clash in Italy got underway with the big-time rematch between Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi! This match started off fast, with Brock delivering four F5s to Oba, before he quickly locked in a Kimura Lock! Lesnar then sent Femi crashing through the announce table, before Oba finally started to fight back with some wicked corner uppercuts! However, this didn’t seem to phase The Beast at all, with Brock delivering another two F5s to pin The Ruler! Now, again, I expected Brock Lesnar to win here given the fact that this is probably leading to a trilogy blowoff at Summerslam, but I can’t understand why people are saying that Oba Femi was made to look good here! Yes, Oba kicked out a lot, but he got destroyed; he only delivered 4 moves all match, and it just made me very annoyed as someone who’s watched Femi dominate since the end of 2023!

Grade: C-

Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch VS Sol Ruca

The penultimate match of the night saw Becky Lynch and Sol Ruca go one-on-one with the Women’s Intercontinental Championship on the line! The way that WWE has gotten to this match has been very odd; Sol has lost every match she’s had up until Saturday Night’s Main Event last week, and even then, she only beat Becky by DQ! I’m all for seeing newer superstars on the show, especially someone who performed very well in NXT, and Lynch is a good enough Heel where this can work! However, I’m not sure that it did here, with a couple of scrappy moments. Despite that, though, this match produced easily the best result of the night, with Ruca nailing The Man with a Sol Snatcher to get the win, crowning herself as the new Women’s Intercontinental Champion! I’m really happy for Sol Ruca; this is exactly what these Women’s Midcard Titles were brought in for!

Grade: C+

World Heavyweight Championship Tribal Combat Match: Roman Reigns VS Jacob Fatu

And in the Main Event of Clash in Italy 2026, Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu went to war in Tribal Combat, with the World Heavyweight Championship also on the line! As much as I have enjoyed this feud between Roman and Jacob, I feel like it peaked when Fatu sent the “entire” Bloodline crashing through the barricade, because I haven’t found the story to be as exciting since! That was the same with this match, as it just felt a little bit dull given Tribal Combat is supposed to be “life-changing”! I just didn’t find there to be much drama whatsoever, with the end result both obvious and boring! As expected, Roman scored the win with a Spear, meaning Fatu now has to serve his Tribal Chief! We’ve already done this storyline in the past, so why are we doing it again? In fairness, having Solo Sikoa and his MFTs watching on has me a little bit intrigued, but I’d still rather see something else!