5 Changes WWE Must Make After Clash in Italy 2026

WWE had a major opportunity to switch things up at Clash in Italy 2026—and they dropped the ball.

Although the event delivered from an in-ring standpoint, the outcomes of the biggest bouts left a lot to be desired. It was essentially established that nothing has truly changed in WWE since WrestleMania 42 and that there isn't much of an incentive to continue tuning in.

Cody Rhodes retained his Undisputed WWE Championship against Gunther in controversial fashion, while Jacob Fatu failed to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Roman Reigns in Tribal Combat. Oba Femi falling to Brock Lesnar wasn't ideal, either.

The women arguably stole the show with Jade Cargill and Rhea Ripley ripping it up over the WWE Women's Championship and Sol Ruca besting Becky Lynch for the Women's Intercontinental Championship, but more focus surrounding the top titles in the division is desperately needed.

Most fans have perceived the product as predictable for many months and Triple H hardly did anything to alter that narrative at Clash in Italy. As the summer season gets underway, these are the five biggest changes WWE must make in an effort to turn things around.

Stop Playing It Safe

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The most common complaint fans have had about WWE for the better part of the past year is that they play it safe too often. Never was that more evident than at Clash in Italy with all of the established names going over the fresher faces.

It has especially been an issue with Cody Rhodes since SummerSlam 2025. Although he's perfectly positioned as the face of the franchise, everything he's been involved in has been beyond basic or has fallen short of expectations.

The matches themselves are consistently strong, but the finishes to said matches are questionable at best.

His feud with Drew McIntyre dragged on for too long and saw McIntyre take the title from him later than he should have. The entire storyline with Randy Orton going into WrestleMania 42 lacked logic and ended in abysmal fashion. His tainted win over Gunther wasn't much better.

Rhodes and Roman Reigns constantly overcoming the odds has become too repetitive and safe. It's what WWE feels has worked well for them so far and thus they're not motivated to do any differently.

Strike When the Iron Is Hot

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Time and time again, WWE hasn't struck when the iron has been hot with certain stars, and even when they have, they don't always capitalize or follow up accordingly.

Bron Breakker betraying Seth Rollins back in October and that moment ultimately amounting to nothing was frustrating for fans, but it looked like WWE would actually catapult Oba Femi to super stardom immediately upon his arrival on the main roster instead.

He was already over with the audience and didn't need to do much to feel like a legitimate threat to Brock Lesnar. He was white hot coming off his quick and decisive win over Lesnar at WrestleMania, only for WWE to do very little with him in the subsequent weeks.

Lesnar avenging his loss to Femi at Clash in Italy was yet another example of WWE playing the long game with a newer name as opposed to pushing him toward the main event when he's ready right now.

Femi should have been challenging for a world title at SummerSlam, and seeing as how he's been announced for the King of the Ring tournament, there's a chance he still could. He'll likely be busy facing Lesnar in a rubber match at the event, which will do nothing to put Femi in a stronger spot than he was in when he beat Lesnar the last time.

Start Creating Credible Challengers in the Women's Division

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Now having scored back-to-back victories versus Jade Cargill, Rhea Ripley is in need of new challengers to her WWE Women's Championship. Charlotte Flair could be next in line, or recent call-up Jacy Jane, but it's not as if WWE has established any clear challengers as of late on the SmackDown side.

Raw's women's division finds itself in far more disarray right now. Liv Morgan regained the Women's World Championship at WrestleMania 42, and in addition to not having defended the title at all, she isn't involved in a program that would require her to defend it anytime soon.

Former champ Stephanie Vaquer being out injured hasn't helped matters, and there's been no meaningful movement in the rest of the title scene otherwise. Bayley and Lyra Valkyria could potentially challenge Morgan soon, but neither of them have been built up in the slightest.

Meanwhile, Sol Ruca winning the Women's Intercontinental Championship so early into her main roster run is an encouraging sign for her future, but WWE is also running the risk of rushing her push.

WWE has to do a better job of coming up with compelling storylines with the women and making them more of a featured part of Raw and SmackDown in the months ahead.

Scrap The Vision

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The Vision weren't in action at Clash in Italy, but Bron Breakker and Austin Theory were shown sitting in the crowd during the show, which only emphasized the sad state of the stable at the moment.

Bronson Reed and Logan Paul are out with injuries, and Breakker and Seth Rollins were sidelined for a few months before them. If it wasn't already apparent, The Vision are a cursed faction and aren't adding anything to Raw to make it a stronger show.

Breakker is better than serving as one-half of the World Tag Team champions with Theory in Paul's absence. He knocked off Seth Rollins in a hard-fought bout at Backlash and isn't any closer to challenging for a championship because of his unfinished business with Rollins.

Breakker should be slotted higher up the card by now, while fans have been given no reason to take Theory seriously as a singles star. The Vision originally had potential, but there's no point in attempting to make something out of a stable that doesn't have much upside with who they have left.

WWE pivoting to Rollins working exclusively with Montez Ford as Breakker branches off on his own again would a more effective use of everyone involved.

Focus Less on The Bloodline

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Clash in Italy concluded with Roman Reigns walking out still the World Heavyweight champion, flanked by The Usos and Jacob Fatu while The MFTs looked on from the crowd.

It was reminiscent of the rivalry the two factions had at the end of 2024, and it hasn't been nearly long enough since it ended in order for it to feel fresh again. If anything, it served as a reminder that WWE hasn't fully moved on from relying so heavily on The Bloodline for its main event storylines.

Reigns can have an interesting enough run as World Heavyweight champ without The Usos involved, and certainly without Fatu having to "acknowledge" him. That goes against everything Fatu has stood for since the storyline started.

Meanwhile, The MFTs mean less now than they ever have, and there's no endgame to the angle that would make another showdown between the stables worth it. Worse yet, there's nothing left to explore with any of the Bloodline lore, yet that hasn't stopped WWE from continuing to revolve Raw and SmackDown around it.

Not putting so much emphasis on everything relating to The Bloodline would force WWE to have to come up with something original and innovative—or at least a little less tiresome—to spark genuine interest in the product.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.