The SmarK Rant for WWE Clash in Italy 2026 – 05.31.26

The SmarK Rant for WWE Clash in Italy 2026 – 05.31.26

Live from Turin, Italy. Why has TKO not used AI to create a holographic Bruno Sammartino for this show? Talk about leaving money on the table.

Your hosts are Michael Cole & Corey Graves, as Michael promises us a BANGER. I think AEW has that trademarked for PPV, actually. Also apparently Corey went from Mexico for AAA last night to Italy in the afternoon for this?! That’s some dedication.

Undisputed WWE title: Cody Rhodes v. Gunther

Quite the opener to stick onto ESPN. They trade wristlocks and Cody cartwheels away after a clean break while the Italians are busy singing. Gunther hits him with knees and chops him down for two. Gunther tries for the sleeper and Cody escapes, so Gunther puts him down with a big boot instead and beats on the arm with shoulderblocks. Cody with a powerslam out of the corner and he follows with a Pedigree, but that only gets two. Man remember when he spent like a year teasing that in AEW and people were losing their minds every time? Now it’s just a nothing transition move. Gunther with the shotgun dropkick out of the corner and follows with the powerbomb for two. To the top, but Cody gets his knees up to block the splash and comes back with a disaster kick and Crossroads for two. Cody pops up for the cutter, but Gunther blocks it with the sleeper and sinks it in. Cody slams out of it, but Gunther goes right to it and squeezes him again. Cody manages to make the ropes and break. Gunther pounds away and they get into a slugfest, but Gunther wins that with the lariat. Cody tries the cutter again and Gunther blocks, so Cody gets his own sleeper and then hits the cutter out of that. Another Crossroads gets the pin at 11:38, although it looked like Gunther was in the ropes. And Gunther thinks it’s the case as well. So that was a pretty anticlimactic finish to a surprisingly short and disappointing match. It was fine but never really got to the level of Gunther’s best, and the finish flat and dumb. ***1/4. The crowd was super loud for the whole thing, though, which helped out a lot. So I guess this FEUD MUST CONTINUE next month.

WWE Women’s title: Rhea Ripley v. Jade Cargill

They fight for the lockup and Jade slams her out of that and gives us some pushups, but Rhea sends her to the floor and they brawl out there. Jade with a knee to the jaw after bouncing Rhea off the apron, and Jade stomps her down back in the ring. Jade chokes her out in the corner and whips her into the corner to set up a suplex for two. Rhea slugs back, but Jade gets another suplex for two. Jade with the chinlock, but she misses an elbow and then hits the post on a charge and Rhea comes back with a seated dropkick and german suplex. That puts Jade on the floor and Rhea hits her with a cannonball this time, and back in with a missile dropkick for two. Rhea tries a powerbomb and Jade flips out of it for a double down. The crowd does “This is awesome” in Italian, which is cute, but it’s more like just the time when crowds do it and not because the match is particularly good. They slug it out and Rhea hits a Razor’s Edge and shining wizard for two. They tumble to the floor very awkwardly off an electric chair and Rhea drops Jade on the apron for two. They trade finisher attempts and Jade gets a DDT for two. Powerbomb gets two. Jade goes up and Rhea brings her down with a top rope back suplex for two. So then just like Wrestlemania, Jade’s crew shows up again, but Rhea reverses the Jaded and hits Riptide, but Michin puts Jade’s foot on the ropes (late) to save. Weird that they booked both World title matches to have “foot on the ropes” controversy spots. So then Charlotte runs down and takes out the heels while Jade this Jaded, but now Charlotte puts Rhea’s foot on the ropes to save. And finally Rhea hits Riptide to finish at 17:00 and retain. I gotta say, I was really enjoying the match up until all the stupid TV overbooking bullshit at the end that kind of dragged it down for me a lot. ***1/2. Still really good but they didn’t need all the ga-ga on a PPV.

Brock Lesnar (Retired) v. Oba Femi

The crowd singing Brock’s theme should be studied by wrestling historians for generations. How do you sing that theme? I dunno, but they figured out how to do it. Brock rushes in and hits an F5 at the bell, and then a second one, and then a third one. And a fourth, which gets two. Brock with a kimura and Oba slams out of that, so Brock hits a fifth F5 for two. Oba with a chokeslam for two and he sends Brock to the floor and runs him into the post, but Brock puts him through the table with a sixth F5, but Femi hulks up and beats the count, and tosses Brock with a slam. Brock escapes the powerbomb and hits a seventh F5 for the pin at 6:21. What the FUCK is the point of putting the “retired” guy over Oba Femi after a perfectly good loss by Brock at Wrestlemania? Anyway, we’ve seen this song and dance before from Brock with 8 million F5s jammed into 5 minutes. It was a fine short hoss fight, but I don’t rate matches with retired guys. It’s only fair to people who aren’t retired. I know people are like “BUT RUBBER MATCH AT SUMMERSLAM!” but you know who DIDN’T have to overcome losses and take multiple attempts to beat people? Goldberg in 1998.

Women’s Intercontinental title: Becky Lynch v. Sol Ruca

I figure Ruca would be the babyface here because she sounds like an enforcer from the old country. Ruca dodges Becky and runs her into the turnbuckles, and into a standing moonsault for two. Becky clotheslines her to the floor, but Sol goes up with a moonsault press to the floor. Back in the ring for more flips from Ruca, but Becky SWEEPS THE LEG to take over. Becky goes up and takes forever to drop a leg for two and they slug it out, but Ruca gets a german suplex for two and a missile dropkick for two. Becky blocks the Sol Snatcher with an armbar, but Sol reverses to a crossface and Becky rolls her up for two. Sol reverses for two and Becky gets into yet another argument with Ref Jessica , allowing Ruca to make the comeback. They fight to the top rope and Ruca brings her down with a facejam for two. Sol goes up and Becky shoves Ref Jessica into the ropes to bring Sol down, setting up a superplex for two and a double down. Becky bails and Sol tries a SPACE FLYING TIGER DROP but gets caught on the top rope and lands awkwardly. Back in the ring, Becky gets the manhandle slam for two. Ruca gets her own slam for two, giving us some SHOCKED TWO COUNT FACE from Ruca. And then she hits the Sol Snatcher from out of nowhere and wins the title at 14:00. This one got pretty good by the end after a slow start, but the crowd didn’t really seem to be into Ruca very much as compared to everyone else on the show. And I’m really bored with the endless Becky v. Referee feud that still isn’t going anywhere or paying off with anything, but has to feature in every Becky match for some reason. ***1/2

World title: Roman Reigns v. Jacob Fatu

This is TRIBAL COMBAT, like when AEW and WWE fans meet up in a Hot Topic while they’re putting out the new t-shirt stock. And yes, it’s yet another match where someone has to acknowledge Roman Reigns if they lose. Can’t get enough of those. They trade shoulderblocks to start and Jacob threatens the death grip, so Roman bails to the floor and they brawl out there. They fight into the crowd while contesting their tribal combat and brawl out there and back to ringside again, where Roman finds a Slim Jims Table. They fight over the stairs and Roman dropkicks him into the post with the Drive By. Back in, Roman with a pair of clotheslines and more in the corner, and he follows with a big boot to put Fatu down. Superman punch misses and Fatu comes back with a corner splash, but Roman superman punches him for two. Fatu with the TONGAN DEATH GRIP and Roman is fading, but Fatu dumps him to the floor and tries a dive. Roman hits him with a superman punch from the floor to cut him off and they’re both down. So Roman fetches the tribal toolbox and smashes it into Fatu’s hand to counter the death grip. Why didn’t anyone ever do that to Haku? Would have probably saved a lot of people some pain. So the SLIM JIMS TABLE gets set up in the corner, but Fatu blocks a spear and they head back to the floor again, where Roman gets a superman punch out there, followed by a spear through the barricade. Back in for a spear that gets two and another double down. “It’s non stop action from the opening bell!” declares Corey as they’re laying around the ring selling after 20 minutes of randomly wandering around the arena and occasionally going into the ring for a spot or two. Roman pulls the turnbuckles off and Jacob pops up with a death grip, but the injured hand leaves it more of a minor inconvenience grip and Roman is able to free himself easily. Fatu with a spear for two off a shot to the exposed turnbuckle. Fatu misses the moonsault but gets the samoan drop and moonsault, and that gets two. They slug it out and even this incredibly hot crowd sounds kind of bored with the match now, and Roman finally spears Jacob through that Slim Jims Table. Another spear gets the pin at 27:11 and that’s that. This just felt like a subpar rehash of last month and I’m so over the endless Bloodline acknowledgement stuff. It was an OK brawl that took forever to get where it was going. ***1/2

This was an OK show that I was able to blow through in about 2 hours after cutting out the commercials and video packages. And it was a very inoffensive C-show elevated somewhat by an incredibly hot crowd who were way more invested in it than I was. Thumbs in the middle.