TKO’s international expansion continued with the first pay-per-view in Italy as a part of the WWE’s European tour. As I’ve written before, it can’t be understated how important the success of these international shows are because it’s a step toward the true globalization of the product. Of course, the advancement of streaming technology, and more importantly, the ability for an immediate replay are key reasons that these international pay-per-views can be added to the regular WWE schedule. With just five matches on the main card, it might sound like this event was a little thin in terms of delivering enough meat on the bone for both the live and streaming audience, but the line-up was stacked with star power and theoretically a lot at stake from a storyline perspective to give the impression that the broadcast was “must see” for the WWE audience.
This was another PPV where the first hour was on the standard ESPN channel, and while I understand the logic behind it, especially with the massive investment that the network has into WWE programming as one of the cornerstones of its app, there are times that the television format affects the presentation of those portions of the show. The opener of Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther was a worthwhile way to get some level of viewership through ESPN, particularly if there were plans to switch the title, which there was a case to be made for since Gunther was promoted as such a dominate heel the past few years. From a performance perspective, this was a quality segment as everything they did was crisp and smooth. However, from a more substantive point of view, this was somewhat underwhelming. This is actually meant as a compliment, I expected more from this bout since these are two of the top performers in the business today, but this was a 10-minute contest that had a paint-by-numbers approach that just didn’t into second gear. This wasn’t given the time to build a level of organic drama, and seemed rushed to fit the TV time slot more than anything else. Again, this wasn’t a subpar match, but rather not near what it could’ve or probably should’ve been. Given that Gunther had his foot under the ropes for part of the pin fall at the finish, I’m guessing that the somewhat disputed finish will be used to justify a rematch at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia or Summer Slam.
The Women’s title match was fine what was it was, but was another bout that didn’t get into second gear, despite being given the time to do so. It should be noted that Rhea Ripley previously disclosed that she’s dealing with an eating disorder, and she looked alarmingly thin during this match. She looked somewhat frail and it’s definitely concerning. All things considered, it might be better for her to take some time off to completely focus on her health. She’s one of the most over stars on the roster and even a few months away wouldn’t diminish her status. Furthermore, her health is exponentially more important than pro wrestling. On the other end of the spectrum, Jade Cargill looked juiced to the gills and her shoulders looked unnaturally muscular, which is a sharp contrast to the lean muscle that she had when she arrived in the WWE. On a positive note, Cargill seems to finally be more natural in the ring and her move sequences are less clunky than they were prior. The biggest problem with this segment was that toward the conclusion, it used the same loophole with the foot on the rope as was used in the previous match when Gunther had his foot under the bottom rope. It come off as repetitive and flat when it was used for the second time in less than an hour into the broadcast. Eventually, Ripley got the pin to retain the championship, but I’m not sure if this was a productive segment for the division.
Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi was the five-minute fireworks match that you’d expect it to be. I usually shake my head when several finishers are used in a match, but this was probably the exception to the rule, taking into account the context of the storyline. This was essentially a role reversal of their Wrestlemania match, which was by design. Oba got caught off guard with the sneak attack before the bell the same way that Lesnar was caught off guard with the power bomb in their first match. Obviously, this sets up for the rubber match at Summer Slam, the location that will be Brock’s actual retirement. I saw some of the feedback online scoff at Oba taking a loss, but it’s a rather moot point in the grand scheme of things. If I had to guess, I’d say that their Summer Slam match will be given the most time of any of the bouts of the trilogy, and Oba will be presented as the new dominate monster of the WWE landscape. Sure, this match at Clash in Italy was one-dimensional, but it was merely used as a bridge to get to the bigger stage with a bigger payoff.
Sol Ruca defeated Becky Lynch to win the Women’s Intercontinental championship, and while she was booked poorly without nay notable victories on the main roster ahead of this match, she looked like a credible star during this segment. The aerial maneuvers and fast sequences worked well to stand out after the brutes did the power match in the segment before this. It goes without saying that Sol Ruca will have to continue to evolve as a performer as far as learning the finer points of working television, as well as the promo work for the causal fans, but the office has certainly given her a good chance to be successful with win over someone as established as Becky Lynch. I could be wrong, but with how cemented Becky is as a tent pole of the women’s division, she doesn’t necessary need a championship for the angles she’s involved in to carry a level of cache. Her star power inherently brings a level of importance to her roles on the shows. It will be interesting to see how Sol Ruca is booked going forward, as far as if she’s presented strong enough to became a star of the division or if she will be regulated to the second tier if the run as champion is underwhelming.
The main event was decent, and the crowd was into the segment, but it didn’t capture the drama of their match the prior month. This was basically a longer, but lesser version of the Backlash main event. The Clash in Italy contest went almost 30 minutes and became a tedious viewing experience toward the conclusion, particularly when the stuff they did outside of the ring during the middle of the match was slow and plodding. The key was, at least as far as the biggest difference maker between this contest and the one at Bashlash was that during their first match, they were able to make it look like Jacob Fatu might actually beat Roman Reigns for the championship. They simply never got to that level here, and this bout took the course of a rather typical WWE main event as far as a predictable result. Roman used a spear to get the pin fall to retain the title. Post-match, Jacob Fatu left with Roman and The Usos, while the Solo Sikoa group watched from the crowd, which might be an indication of another angle between the two factions.
If management wants to keep the belt on Roman, it’s understandable since the two years away from the title picture can at least make the case, albeit not necessarily a strong one, that there was enough time to put him back in the main event scene without it being a total retread. However, this angle with Fatu is basically the same concept that was booked for Jey Uso during Roman’s initial heel run. In short, as well done as the Samoan rivalry storylines did over the past few years, Reigns and more or less everyone else involved needs some new ground to cover to avoid redundant narratives. Furthermore, I don’t think it was a wise decision to book Fatu in a scenario where he looks like he can’t win the world heavyweight championship since it could affect the perception of his potential as a main event star in the future.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
