It’s the first PLE in Italy! The World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns defends the championship against his own family Jacob Fatu, but this time it’s under Tribal Combat rules! The Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends his title against the newest SmackDown superstar, GUNTHER. We get to witness a huge rematch between Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar! Also, Rhea Ripley defends her WWE Women’s Championship against Jade Cargill, Sol Ruca challenges Becky Lynch for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship, and more! Join us for a live recap of WWE Clash in Italy today with the main premium live event starting at 2 PM ET with the first hour also airing live on ESPN, and the rest of the show on ESPN Unlimited (USA) and Netflix (worldwide). Hit F5 or refresh as often as you like for the latest updates!
We are live in Turin, Italy for another Clash and it’s the first PLE in the country! “The Ring General” Gunther is the first person to head out, and the WWE Championship will open the show. Michael Cole and Corey Graves are the commentators of the night, and the Italian commentary team of Michele Posa and Luca Franchini are there as well. “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes heads to the ring next with the Italian crowd singing his entire theme song, and he shakes hands with both Italian and English announce teams. Alicia Taylor does the proper title match introductions, Dan Engler is the referee assigned to this match, and we’re underway!
* Undisputed WWE Championship: GUNTHER vs. Cody Rhodes {C}
The bell dings, they circle around each other, they trade wrestling holds, jockey for position, and Cody cartwheels away for a clean break. They lock fingers, Gunther takes over the test of strength, backs him into a corner, and Gunther CHOPS him for no clean break. Gunther chops him again, Cody slides under him, hits the drop-down uppercut, springboards but Gunther CHOPS him in mid-air, knees to the midsection, slaps him on the chest, and covers for a 1-count. Gunther clubs him on the back, hammer throw into the turnbuckles, does a head fake, Cody counters the sleeper with an armdrag, and Gunther hits the big boot. Cody punches him, Gunther hits a short-arm shoulder block, Cody lands on his feet from a back suplex, punches him, hits the snap powerslam, and starts to fire himself up.
Cody hits the left jabs, connects with the Bionic Elbow, lands the Pedigree, and covers for a near-fall! Rhodes goes up top, jumps over him, Gunther hits the running shotgun dropkick, hits the POWERBOMB, and stacks the cover for 2.5! Gunther goes for the splash, Cody gets his knees up, hits the Disaster Kick, connects with CROSS RHODES, and covers for 1-2-KICKOUT!! Gunther counters the Cody Cutter with the Sleeper, but Rhodes rolls through, and Gunther locks in the SLEEPER! Gunther drops back for effort, they roll to their stomachs, Cody gets to his knees, stands with Gunther on his back, and drops backwards to release. Gunther grabs him for the Sleeper, hits elbows to the neck, and locks him in the SLEEPER! Rhodes starts to fade gasping for air, he rolls onto his stomach, and gets his foot on the bottom rope to break.
Gunther is dominating the match and in control here, taunting Rhodes around the ring. Cody fights back, they slap chests with chops, Gunther clotheslines him, Cody clotheslines him back, and Gunther takes him down with a big clothesline. Rhodes ducks another clothesline, Gunther blocks the Cody Cutter, Rhodes counters the Sleeper, hits the Cody Cutter, drops him with the CROSS RHODES, and covers for the 3-count!! Gunther’s foot was under the bottom rope but the 3-count was made! WINNER, and STILL, UNDISPUTED WWE CHAMPION: CODY RHODES!!
After the match, we see the replays where Gunther’s foot WAS in fact under the bottom rope, but where referee Dan Engler’s position was he did not even see it. Gunther is yelling at Dan Engler for missing the rope break, then he storms off. LA Knight, Montez Ford, and The Judgment Day are all in the crowd.
We get a video package leading up to the next match, which is a rematch from WrestleMania. Jade Cargill heads out alone without her baddies Michin or B-Fab. The champ Rhea Ripley comes out next, ready to defend her championship. Alicia Taylor does the proper title match introductions, and Danilo Anfibio is the referee assigned for this match.
* WWE Women’s Championship: Jade Cargill vs. Rhea Ripley {C}
The bell dings, they lock up collar-and-elbow, clean break, lock up again, Jade corners her, Rhea takes her down, they still have the tie-up, and Jade slaps her. Rhea goes on offense, but Jade body slams her, does push-ups right in front of her, and Rhea slaps her back. Rhea side-steps her sending her out the ring, dropkicks her through the ropes, Jade blocks the cannonball, clobbers her, drops her hard onto the apron, then bounces her off the ropes to hit a big knee on the rebound. Jade delivers a fallaway slam on the floor, throws her back into the ring, beats her down, chokes her on the ropes, slams her head on the turnbuckle, chokes her with her boot, and a hammer throw into the turnbuckles.
Jade continues to dominate, delivers a suplex, covers for 2, uppercuts her, and stomps her down. Rhea fights back with chops, Irish whip reversed into the turnbuckle, Jade delivers a snap suplex, covers for 2, and puts her in a chinlock. Rhea gets back to her feet, Jade slams her back down, Rhea battles back, Jade body slams her, but Rhea rolls away from an elbow drop. Rhea side-steps her in a corner, Jade crashes into the ringpost shoulder-first, Rhea hits short-arm clotheslines, hits a ripcord superkick, face-first slam, and hits the basement dropkick. Rhea delivers a German suplex, hits the cannonball off the apron, throws her back in, goes up top, connects with the missile dropkick, hooks the near leg, and covers for 2. Rhea sets up for the Razor’s Edge, Jade counters into a back body drop, Rhea hits an upkick, and both women are down.
They get face-to-face, trading punches to BOOs and YAYs from the Italian crowd, Rhea shoves her, avoids the pump kick, Jade ducks a head kick, Rhea blocks Jaded, ducks a clothesline, Jade side-steps a dropkick, Rhea side-steps a knee, headbutts her, and Jade blocks the Riptide with a back elbow. Rhea hits a jumping enzuigiri, delivers the Razor’s Edge, hits the shining wizard, and covers for 2. Rhea lifts her in the electric chair position, Jade pulls her over the ropes with her legs, Rhea still has her in the electric chair on the floor, and slams her onto the apron! Rhea pushes her back into the ring, covers for 2, sets up for Riptide, Jade lands behind her, Rhea counters Jaded sliding through her legs, but Jade counters the Riptide with a DDT! What a sequence of reversals! Jade covers for a 2-count, Rhea lands on her feet, side-steps her in a corner, Jade plants her with a blue thunder bomb, and gets another near-fall. Jade drags her into position, goes up top, Rhea cuts her off with a chop, they trade shots in the ropes, Rhea delivers a BELLY-TO-BACK SUPERPLEX, covers, and gets 2.9!
Michin and B-Fab head down the entranceway, Rhea notices them on their way, turns around into the Pump Kick by Cargill, and Jade picks her up for Jaded, but Rhea rolls through with a double stomp to the gut, plants her with the RIPTIDE, and covers for 1-2-NO as Jade gets her foot on the bottom rope! B-Fab tried to help her but she couldn’t fully grab her leg. The referee still decides to EJECT them from ringside. Rhea corners them to find Charlotte Flair on the barricade with a diving crossbody to Michin and B-Fab! Charlotte tosses B-Fab into the ringpost, and throws Michin aside! Back in the ring, Jade hits the Pump Kick to Ripley, plants her with JADED, and covers for 1-2-NO as Charlotte places Ripley’s leg on the bottom rope! That’s how it’s done! Jade glares at Flair, Rhea counters the choke slam, headbutts Cargill, plants her with RIPTIDE, stacks the cover, and gets the 3-count!! WINNER, and STILL, WWE WORLD CHAMPION: RHEA RIPLEY!!
That concludes the broadcast on ESPN, with the rest of the card continuing on the app with ESPN Unlimited.
We see several Italian influencers in the crowd, and Michael Cole calls Corey Graves a movie star who filmed a movie nearby in Italy. We get a video package leading up to the next match, which is another rematch from WrestleMania. Brock Lesnar heads to the ring, and Paul Heyman is by his side. Oba Femi heads out with a massive reaction from the crowd. Alicia Taylor does the big introduction, but of course Heyman introduces Lesnar, and Chad Patton will be the referee for this match.
* Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi
Lesnar jumps Femi at the bell and plants him with the F5!! Lesnar picks him up for another F5, and a third F5, and a fourth F5! Lesnar covers for a 2-count!! Heyman screams for the Kimora, so Lesnar applies the KIMORA LOCK! Femi gets back up standing with Lesnar still holding him, and plants him with a spinebuster! Lesnar goes for the Kimora again, but Femi rams him into a corner to block it, and forces him to release. Lesnar blocks the choke slam, picks him up for the F5, covers, and gets 1-2-KICKOUT!! Lesnar picks him up again, Femi plants him with the CHOKE SLAM, and covers for 2!
Femi clotheslines him out the ring, clears the English announce table, Lesnar reverses an Irish whip sending him into the ringpost, goes for the Kimora again, and Femi blocks it by ramming him into the ringpost. Femi goes for the choke slam, but Lesnar blocks it, and plants him with the F5 THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE! Lesnar gets back in the ring content with a countout. Chad Patton starts his count, Oba pops up to his feet at the count of 8, and gets back in the ring at 9! Femi hits the running European uppercut, another running uppercut, and a third running uppercut. Femi launches him with the back suplex toss, goes for the Fall From Grace, but Lesnar lands on his feet, plants him with another F5, and covers for three! WINNER: BROCK LESNAR!
Lesnar is feeling himself with this victory. He shouts “ONE plus ONE equals you’re DONE bitch!” Whatever that means.
The Vision, Giulia, and the original “Milan Miracle” SANTINO MARELLA are all in the crowd! Michael Cole and Corey Graves talk about the weekend of shows they’ve had, including last night’s AAA Noche de Los Grandes! Cole wants Graves to admit he was right all along that El Grande Americano was originally (spoiler alert) Chad Gable. We get the announcement for the first-ever two-night AAA TriplemanÃa 34 that night one on Friday, September 11th will be held live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Night two on Sunday, September 13th, will be in Mexico City.
The Miz is here to introduce the new “Scary Movie” that coming out, complaining that he’s not in it. Fraxiom, Matt Cardone, R-Truth and Danhausen all make an appearance to promote the movie, plus a Facetime from Marlon Wayans himself.
* Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Sol Ruca vs. Becky Lynch {C}
Guess who’s referee this match? Yes, it’s the infamous Jessika Carr. Becky gets in Carr’s face right away at the bell, tries a cheap shot on Ruca, but Ruca was ready for her. Becky hides behind Carr, Ruca catches her foot, plants him with a slam face-first, and kicks her into the turnbuckles. Sol Ruca hits the splash in a corner, Becky ducks a head kick, Ruca hits the standing moonsault, and covers for 2. Sol wrenches her left arm, Becky clotheslines her out the ring, hits the baseball slide, Sol side-steps her of the apron, flips up the turnbuckle, and hits a DIVING MOONSAULT from the top rope to the floor!
Sol gets her back into the ring, covers for 2, Becky side-steps her in a corner, Sol with a sunset flip for 2, sweeps the leg, and Becky block a springboard by tripping her. Becky goes on the attack, Sol fights back, Becky lowers the ropes on her, hits a diving punch off the apron, and throws her into the barricade. Becky brings her back into the ring, goes up top, hits a diving legdrop, covers, and gets a 2-count complaining to the ref. Becky hits a European uppercut, another uppercut, Sol counters with her own uppercut, they trade uppercuts, Becky hits a back kick, Sol Ruca ducks a swing to uppercut her, and hits a couple of spinning back elbows and a German suplex. Sol hits a missile dropkick, kips up, hits a running knee, and covers for 2.
Becky rolls out the ring, Sol chargers, Becky rolls back in, Sol hits a running dropkick, goes for the Sol Snatcher but Becky side-steps and traps her in the cross armbreaker! Sol escapes and locks her in the STF! Becky then escapes, goes for the Dis-Arm-Her, but Sol counters with a roll-up for 2, Jessika Carr avoids contact, Becky hits a reverse DDT for a 2-count. Becky gets in Carr’s face yet again, Sol reverses the Manhandle Slam, hits a dropkick, Becky tosses her onto the apron, Sol fights back, and Becky slams her head on the turnbuckle. Becky sets up for a suplex over the ropes, Sol blocks it, headbutts her, gets on the top rope, and hits a top rope X FACTOR for a near-fall!
Sol gets on the top rope, grabs the ref, Carr holds her ground, Becky lets go and Carr falls into the ropes to trip Ruca! Becky takes advantage with a SUPERPLEX, goes for a DDT but Sol flips through, and superkicks her! Both women are down, Becky rolls out the ring, Sol kips up, hits the moonsault over the ropes, throws her back into the ring, Becky blocks the springboard 450 clothesline with the MANHANDLE SLAM, and covers for 2.9! Sol pulls her off the ropes, plants the champ with her own Manhandle Slam, and covers for a near-fall! Becky catches her running in, Sol counters with a sunset flip, Becky rolls through, Sol counters the Manhandle Slam, hits the SOL SNATCHER, and covers for 1-2-3!!! WINNER, and NEW, WOMEN’S INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION: SOL RUCA!!
Sol Ruca has defeated Becky Lynch, finally hitting the Sol Snatcher to win her first major title in WWE to become the new Women’s Intercontinental Champion! Je’Von Evans, Iyo Sky, Ethan Page and Lyra Valkyria are all in the crowd. The next Saturday Night’s Main Event will be on Saturday, July 18th.
The next PLE will be on Saturday, June 27th for WWE Night of Champions. The finals of the King and Queen of the Ring will take place at Night of Champions, but the tournament begins tomorrow on Monday Night Raw, with the brackets revealed later today on the Clash in Italy post-show.
We get a video package to hype up the main event between Jacob Fatu and Roman Reigns, leading up to this Tribal Combat Match for the World Title. Jacob Fatu comes out first ready for combat. Roman Reigns heads out next by himself with the World Heavyweight Championship. Jason Ayers is the referee for this match, he holds up the championship as well as the ula fala, as both are on the line.
* World Heavyweight Championship – Tribal Combat Match: Jacob Fatu vs. Roman Reigns {C}
The main event is underway, they stare each other down, circling around the ring, the crowd is hot and fired up cheering for both men, champ and challenger lock up collar-and-elbow, and they break. They lock up again, Reigns with a side headlock, Fatu reverses with a side headlock, Reigns pushes him off, Fatu hits a shoulder block, Reigns leapfrogs, and clotheslines him. Reigns slams his head on all four turnbuckles, Irish whip, Fatu hits a spinning elbow, goes for the Tongan Death Grip, but Roman escapes and exits the ring. Michael Cole address the rumors of Jacob Fatu being injured, but Fatu disspells the rumors as he hits the suicide dive and slams him into the barricade.
They battle into the crowd and continue the fight near the stairs, and Reigns does the 10-punch with the crowd counting in Italian. Fatu sends him into the railing, headbutts him, slams his head off a chair, another headbutt, Reigns hits him in the head with an ice bucket, and tosses snacks into the crowd. Fatu slams his head on a pole, throws him back to ringside near the timekeeper’s area, and stands on his throat while threatening the referee. Fatu headbutts the champ again, checks under the ring, Reigns attacks him, throws him head-first into the ringpost, checks under the ring, and brings out a table to the delight of the crowd. Fatu attacks Roman from behind, brings the table up, Reigns hits him with a big boot, and the crowd sings his name. Fatu uppercuts him, slams his head off the steps, and tosses him into the steel steps.
Fatu brings the top half of the steps into the ring, brings the champ in as well, starts talking to himself, Reigns uppercuts him, looks at the steps, picks them up, and tosses them down onto Fatu! Reigns walks around the ring, passing Green Shirt Guy and Blue Shirt Dude in the front row, and hits Fatu with the drive-by kick on the apron. Reigns clotheslines him, Fatu reverses the Irish whip, Reigns clotheslines him again, then hits the ten clotheslines in the corner, followed by a big boot, and cocks the fist. Fatu ducks the Superman Punch, punches him, clotheslines him, hits the senton, splashes him in a corner, 10-punch and headbutt, hits the running hip attack, but Reigns counters the pop-up with the Superman Punch and covers for 2. Reigns readies for the Spear, Fatu counters with a superkick, and gets him in the Tongan Death Grip! Reigns battles out with punches, Fatu shoves him over the ropes, and Reigns blocks a suicide dive with a Superman Punch!
Reigns checks under the ring, grabs a yellow toolbox, slams the toolbox onto Fatu’s right hand against the announce table, and the crowd chants “Mamma mia!” Reigns slams the toolbox on his hand against the steel steps, brings him back into the ring, attacks the hand, and leans the table up in a corner. Reigns sets up for the Spear, but Fatu splashes him in the opposite corner, hits the running hip attack, Reigns falls out the ring, Fatu charges, and Reigns hits the Superman Punch to cut him off. Reigns hits Fatu with the SPEAR THROUGH THE BARRICADE!! They took out two security guards in the process. Back in the ring, Roman hits the SPEAR AGAIN and covers for 2.9!!
Reigns mouths off to him saying he’s doing this on his own, as there are no Usos here to help him. Reigns exposes three top turnbuckle pads by ripping them off, and Fatu goes for the Tongan Death Grip, but his hand hurts. Reigns hits the Superman Punch, Fatu shakes it off, Reigns hits another Superman Punch, Fatu shakes that off, Reigns slams his head off of two exposed turnbuckles, Fatu hits the SPEAR to Roman, and covers for 2.5!! Roman rolls away from the springboard moonsault, goes for the Spear, but Fatu hits the pop-up Samoan drop, hits the SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT, and covers for the 1-2-KICKOUT as Roman uppercuts the lowblow in the process! Both men trade punches back and forth, Fatu’s punches are weaker due to the damage to his right hand, he goes for the Tongan Death Grip again, but Reigns breaks it, slams his head over and over and over on the exposed turnbuckle, and SPEARS FATU THROUGH THE TABLE!! Fatu is already back on his feet, Reigns runs the ropes, hits the SPEAR, AND COVERS FOR THE ONE-TWO-THREE!!! WINNER, and STILL, WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: ROMAN REIGNS!!!
The Usos are are here, they place the ula fala around Roman’s neck, and they look down on Jacob Fatu who is sitting up in a corner. Roman and The Usos step out the ring as Jacob tries to get back up to his feet. Solo Sikoa and the MFT’s are at ringside, and Roman says he has something for them too. Jacob steps out the ring, looks over at the MFTs, Jey calls over Fatu to follow them, Fatu follows them, and Roman mouths off as WWE Clash in Italy goes off the air.
