WWE Clash in Italy: 5 big takeaways for Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi, Rhea Ripley and more

WWE Clash in Italy took over Inalpi Arena in Turin, Italy, Sunday evening in a night that did more to move stories along than end them. Roman Reigns vanquished Jacob Fatu, Brock Lesnar evened things up with Oba Femi, Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley retained their titles, and Sol Ruca earned the Women’s Intercontinental Championship.

Here are five big takeaways as we move into WWE’s summer slate of rivalries.

Roman Reigns did exactly what he said he would, putting Jacob Fatu down for the three-count and retaining his World Heavyweight Championship. Reigns and Fatu put on an expectedly violent Tribal Combat showdown, with Reigns neutralizing the Tongan Death Grip by slamming the challenger’s hand with a toolbox midway through the match, spearing him through the barricade, and ultimately forcing Fatu back into a support role. It never really felt like Fatu had a chance on this night, and in the end, it was two spears — one through the table and another regular one — that put Fatu down.

After the match, Reigns saw Solo Sikoa and the MFT ringside, then yelled they were next. WWE couldn’t have forecasted the next steps in this one more clearly than Reigns and the Usos walking up the entrance ramp, Sikoa and the MFT sitting in the audience, and Fatu standing equal distance between the two factions. WWE capitalizing on the success of the first Bloodline run should be no surprise. The challenge here is how they evolve this story to make it just as interesting, if not more so, than the first iteration.

As for Tribal Combat, I understand WWE has established the precedence of the match essentially being a no-holds-barred match with the finish coming by either pinfall or submission. But wouldn’t it have made more sense for it to be the equivalent of an “I Quit” match? It would have been much more satisfying Sunday for the loser to have to say “I acknowledge you” than succumbing to a typical finish, since that’s basically the entire premise of this stipulation match taking place.

When Brock Lesnar ended his one-month retirement for a surprise return and beatdown of Oba Femi, it seemed pretty clear WWE was angling for at least two more big matches — likely at Clash in Italy, then SummerSlam later this year in Lesnar’s home state of Minnesota.

Lesnar fulfilled his end of the bargain, bringing the fight to Femi in Italy and hitting “The Ruler” with everything in his arsenal. A whopping five F-5s, repeated kimuras, an F-5 through the announce table, and a final seventh F-5 in the ring was eventually just enough for Lesnar to win and even the score.

Now for the rubber match, which pretty clearly is being set up for WWE’s mid-year super show. I don’t think this one ever had to be an even score heading into what will likely be their final showdown, but that’s the direction WWE opted for. In a different world, Femi beats Lesnar despite Lesnar throwing everything at him, forcing Lesnar to put his career on the line for one more match. In my opinion, that’s a far more interesting route to get here without forcing Femi to eat a loss. Having Femi lose at this point in his dominance felt unnecessary.