It’s very nearly time for WWE’s Clash PLE series to arrive in Turin, as Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, and their respective “Raw” and “SmackDown” rosters make their way to Clash In Italy! The card features four championship matches (one of which involves Tribal Combat) and a huge WrestleMania 42 rematch in the form of Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi, and once again, the Wrestling Inc. staff are here to predict the winners!
Not for nothing, but if you’ve been using our picks to gamble over the last few shows, you’ve probably been making some money. We’re riding high coming off AEW Double or Nothing, where our collective predictions went 9-0; Clash In Italy might be a bit harder to predict in some cases, but we’re confident we’ve got all the answers yet again. Who do the WINC crew see emerging victorious? Let’s get to the picks!
Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (57%)
The Undisputed WWE Championship will be on the line in Italy this weekend as Cody Rhodes defends against GUNTHER.
Rhodes is one of the rare few to hold a clean win over the “Ring General” with the pair having met for the WWE Crown Jewel Championship at the eponymous event in 2024, though GUNTHER has since gone on to capture another World Heavyweight Championship, retire John Cena via submission in December, retire AJ Styles in January, and claim another significant scalp with a win over Seth Rollins at WrestleMania.
Rhodes is making the second defense of his title since recapturing it from Drew McIntyre in March, following on from a victory over Randy Orton at ‘Mania, having added two WWE Championship reigns since the last time he faced GUNTHER.
And he will be the favorite going into the match, at least according to the poll put to the Wrestling Inc. staff, with a 57% majority backing the champion to retain his title once more. That does mean 43% can see the challenger walking away with the WWE title he has yet to hold, equaling their singles saga at 1-1 and winning the title as close to his home nation as foreseeably possible.
Written by Max Everett
WWE Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley (100%)
After losing the WWE Women’s Championship to Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 42, Jade Cargill has been given the chance to reclaim the title in a rematch this weekend, but everybody on our staff at WrestlingInc. believes that “Mami” will walk out of Clash In Italy victorious.
Following WrestleMania, WWE has put in the effort to make Cargill look strong after losing the title, especially when she picked up a massive win over Ripley, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair alongside Michin and B-Fab at Saturday Night’s Main Event. That said, with Ripley holding the gold for just over 40 days so far, and Cargill’s initial title reign having gotten stale in the lead up to WrestleMania, there’s not a future where we see the former AEW star as champion on Monday morning.
In addition, Cargill has already faced a large portion of the women’s roster on “WWE SmackDown” as champion, whereas Ripley has a lineup of challengers that she’s yet to face. Whether it’s first-time singles matchups with talent like Alexa Bliss or Tiffany Stratton, wrestling newer stars who just got called up from “WWE NXT” like Blake Monroe, or reigniting old feuds with the likes of Charlotte Flair, there’s just more creative avenues for Ripley with the title than Cargill.
Along with there being a fresh batch of talent for Ripley heading into the summer, Jacy Jayne of Fatal Influence has already started to feud with her since being called up to the main roster, and with WWE’s creative team reportedly wanting to feature her more prominently, it’s possible that “The Eradicator’s” next challenger following Cargill will be the former NXT Women’s Champion.
Written by Julien D’Alessandro
WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch (57%)
In one of the more balanced outcomes amongst our prediction poll, 57% of Wrestling Inc. staff are backing WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch in her upcoming title defense against Sol Ruc at Clash In Italy. Meanwhile, 43% are betting on Ruca pulling off an upset over the WWE veteran.
The divide in thoughts isn’t too surprising as either talent could reasonably walk out of Clash In Italy with the Women’s IC Title. No championships changed hands at last week’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, so the likelihood of at least one doing so at CII greatly increases. Ruca is a budding star on WWE’s main roster, and it’s clear by her positioning — a marquee title match just a month after receiving her call-up — that the company has invested in her. As such, the possibility of WWE strapping a title onto her, and in turn, cementing her as a serious force, is one that some think will become a reality this Sunday.
For the slight majority of us, though, the history of the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship is hard to overlook heading into Clash In Italy. In just the last six months, the title has swapped hands four times — a stat that doesn’t do it many favors. The months of November, January, February, and April marked those respective changes, and frankly, another one coming in May seems more damaging than uplifting.
If WWE truly wants to elevate the Women’s IC Title again, it might want to stay far away from the hot potato game. That means that Becky Lynch needs to successfully defend her title, either cleanly or by more sly means.
Written by Ella Jay
Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi: Lesnar (93%)
What we thought was a one-and-done deal between Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi could now be stretched out into a trilogy culminating at WWE SummerSlam. And to reasonably do that, Lesnar and Femi must head into the premium live event with one win a piece. That means Lesnar is likely winning at the second stop, set for this weekend at WWE Clash In Italy.
Lesnar made his surprise return last week to decimate Femi, then challenged him to a rematch, despite “The Beast” still being “retired” from in-ring competition. Why Lesnar hung up his boots at WrestleMania only to put them back on weeks later remains a mystery to us, but given WWE’s insistence that he’s coming out to the ring for another match, the overwhelming majority of us believe that he’s back to win.
In fact, 93% of the Wrestling Inc. staff are convinced that Lesnar will defeat Femi at Clash In Italy, and in turn, even the score amongst their faceoffs. This theory is further supported by reports of Lesnar being expected for WWE appearances in the weeks following the May 31 PLE, suggesting that a third and final bout between he and Femi might be on the table, specifically for SummerSlam.
Lesnar’s permanent retirement match has long been rumored for SummerSlam, which is set to take place in his adopted home state of Minnesota. Should that indeed be the case, we imagine that WWE will want him to head into the occasion with serious momentum; a victory over Femi, a dominant powerhouse and future world champion, would certainly achieve that.
Written by Ella Jay
Tribal Combat for the World Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns (86%)
Roman Reigns will defend his World Heavyweight Championship for the second time since dethroning CM Punk at WrestleMania this weekend in Italy, facing Jacob Fatu in a rematch of their Backlash clash. But this time it will be Tribal Combat.
Tribal Combat has been a stipulation exclusively wrestled by Reigns, first in 2023 as he defended the Undisputed WWE Championship against Jey Uso, and then Solo Sikoa in January last year, with his status as “Tribal Chief” of the Bloodline also on the line. So if Fatu was to win then he would take both the World Heavyweight title and leadership of the family, while it has been said by Reigns that, upon his victory, Fatu will have to fall in line and serve him moving forward.
The poll put to Wrestling Inc. staff reflects a belief that he will be continuing as a lackey in the Bloodline, 86% voting for Reigns to retain the title and extend his Tribal Combat record to 3-0. Just 14% see Fatu taking the title from Reigns, and perhaps that’s because in the past six years only one man has proven capable of beating him with a world title on the line. Perhaps it’s also because Reigns got the win over Fatu previously having been able to bend the rules. Those rules will now be stripped entirely in a gimmick that has always favored the champion.
Written by Max Everett
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