Welcome back to A View From the Rafters, where the preview and predictions columns just keep coming. We did SNME last week, AAA Noche de Los Grandes yesterday, and now we’re wrapping up the weekend with WWE Clash in Italy, live from the beautiful country that gave us pizza, the Roman Empire, and hopefully Gunther’s coronation.

Five matches on the card that looks great on paper. The event airs LIVE on ESPN (first hour) and ESPN Unlimited beginning at 1pm CT.

Let’s get into it.

World Heavyweight Championship Tribal Combat Match:

Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jacob Fatu

Roman Reigns retained the World Heavyweight Championship against Jacob Fatu at Backlash, but Fatu made sure everyone knew the story wasn’t over by jumping Reigns after the bell. The following Monday he went full loose cannon on Raw, putting the Tongan Death Grip on the Usos and going after officials until WWE had him staring down a pink slip. Fatu’s response to nearly getting fired was to challenge Reigns to Tribal Combat for the title at Clash in Italy, which is either the boldest move in recent memory or the act of a man with nothing left to lose. Reigns has been here before, going 2-0 in Tribal Combat with wins over Jey Uso at SummerSlam 2023 and Solo Sikoa on the Raw Netflix premiere. Fatu is looking to make him 2-1.

Tribal Combat has been Roman’s environment every time they’ve run it, and there’s no compelling reason to take the title off him here. Fatu has been booked like a monster and this feud has real heat behind it, but Reigns is still the face of this division, and a loss to Fatu in Italy doesn’t serve the story as well as a hard-fought retention does. Roman goes 3-0 in Tribal Combat.

Prediction: Roman Reigns retains the World Heavyweight Championship.

Undisputed WWE Championship Match:

Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Gunther

Gunther made his intentions crystal clear on the May 1 SmackDown when he attacked Cody Rhodes and called in a favor from Paul Heyman to secure a title shot. Rhodes turned the tables on him when Gunther tried to take him out a second time, and then Gunther refused to sign the contract on Rhodes’ terms because of course he did. That opened the door for Royce Keys to insert himself, which forced SmackDown GM Nick Aldis to book a number one contender’s match between the two. Gunther won, signed the contract on his own terms, and officially moved to SmackDown for the sole purpose of taking the Undisputed WWE Championship from The American Nightmare at Clash in Italy.

Gunther has been built as the most dominant stars in recent memory, and Rhodes has been a fighting champion worth rooting for, but the time has come for a change at the top. Gunther winning the Undisputed WWE Championship in Italy, in front of a European crowd that will absolutely lose their minds for him, is the kind of coronation moment that only comes around a few times. Rhodes has had his run. The Ring General’s time is now.

Prediction: Gunther wins the Undisputed WWE Championship.

WWE Women’s Championship Match:

Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Jade Cargill

Rhea Ripley beat Jade Cargill for the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 42, but Cargill didn’t go quietly. She came back with Michin and B-Fab at her side, turning what was already a difficult rematch into a three-on-one problem that Ripley couldn’t ignore. The solution was an uneasy alliance with Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, which we already saw show some cracks at SNME last week. Ripley can handle Cargill one-on-one. Whether she can trust her own corner is the more interesting question heading into tonight.

The faction interference and the Flair miscommunication storyline is doing too much good work right now to end it this soon. Ripley retains, probably in spite of her allies as much as because of them, and the Charlotte tension gets another notch added to it in the process. Cargill looks strong enough in defeat to justify another chapter somewhere down the road.

Prediction: Rhea Ripley retains the WWE Women’s Championship.

Women’s Intercontinental Championship Match:

Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sol Ruca

Becky Lynch walked into Saturday Night’s Main Event for a non-title match against Sol Ruca and walked out having gotten herself disqualified by shoving referee Jessika Carr into the path of a Sol Snatcher. Whether that was desperation or a calculated move to avoid losing clean is up for debate, but either way it backfired. Adam Pearce saw enough and made the rematch official for Clash in Italy, this time with the Women’s Intercontinental Championship on the line. Ruca has been turning heads since she got to Raw and back to back high profile matches against Lynch is about as fast a rocket as you can strap to somebody.

Ruca’s moment is coming but it isn’t tonight. Lynch getting herself disqualified at SNME is the kind of heel move that keeps a champion looking vulnerable without actually dropping the title, and that story has more mileage in it. Becky retains in Italy, and the feud continues, with Ruca getting her win eventually when the timing is right and the payoff means more.

Prediction: Becky Lynch retains the Women’s Intercontinental Championship.

Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar

Oba Femi beat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 42 in a moment that felt like a genuine passing of the torch. Lesnar left his boots and gloves in the ring afterward and it looked like that was it. Femi ran with the momentum, launched the Oba Femi Open Challenge, and ran through everybody they put in front of him. Then on the May 18 Raw, Lesnar showed back up and dismantled Femi without warning, making it very clear the retirement was either premature or never real to begin with. Now we get the rematch in Italy.

Femi winning at WrestleMania was the right call and that result doesn’t get erased, but Lesnar coming back with something to prove is a different animal than the one Femi beat the first time. Lesnar wins tonight and sets up the rubber match at SummerSlam, where Femi gets the definitive win that puts the question to bed for good. Two out of three with Brock Lesnar on your resume is a pretty good foundation to build a career on.

Prediction: Brock Lesnar wins, setting up a rubber match at SummerSlam.

Clash in Italy has the makings of a genuinely great show, and if WWE delivers on what the card is promising, tonight could be one of the better PLEs of the year so far. Drop your predictions in the comments, tell me where I’m wrong. See you for the next one.