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Clash in Italy is quickly coming together after some major developments during WWE Raw on Monday night.
The first of those developments came early in the night, with Jacob Fatu calling out Roman Reigns for a Tribal Combat match after Reigns and The Usos beat Fatu down. The second big development was much more shocking, as Brock Lesnar, who had retired at WrestleMania 42, made a shocking return, attacking Oba Femi before making it clear he wanted a rematch in Italy.
CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu are set for Tribal Combat at Clash in Italy
Roman Reigns arrived at the arena at the top of the show, where he was met by Adam Pearce. Pearce said that Reigns should have allowed him to fire Jacob Fatu last Monday, so this week he'll do it his way. Reigns said that he needed a few minutes with Fatu first and would be calling him out. Instead, Fatu beat Reigns to the punch and made his way to the ring. The Usos came to the ring to confront Fatu, leading to a brawl where Fatu took out both Usos, even completely ignoring a chair shot from Jey.
Reigns finally made his way to the ring, leading to more brawling before the numbers took over and Fatu was tied in the ropes where he took superkicks, Superman punches and a spear. Reigns told Pearce he could do whatever he wanted, only for Fatu to call to Reigns and challenge him to "tribal combat." Despite Pearce's protestations, Reigns accepted the challenge.
This is an interesting situation in that Reigns likely wins again unless WWE is ready to pull off a fairly shocking title change. But it leaves Fatu and Reigns in an odd space. The last thing Reigns needs is to have The Bloodline 2.0 and Fatu "acknowledging" Reigns turns him into something of a "follower," which is a role he already broke from with the MFTs. You can't judge the future in the now, but there are some reasons for concern. That said, Tribal Combat should be fun, and that's worth something. Grade: B
Brock Lesnar makes a shocking return and attacks Oba Femi
As Oba Femi was in the ring for the latest edition of the Oba Femi Open Challenge, Brock Lesnar jumped Femi from behind before delivering four F-5s. Femi was unable to rise to his feet as Lesnar left the ring, staring Femi down the entire way up the ramp. Pearce found Paul Heyman backstage and asked what happened, because he had filed retirement paperwork for Lesnar.
Heyman said that Lesnar was retired, but that he had a contract for Clash in Italy with Lesnar's signature already on it.
Obviously, Lesnar's retirement not sticking for at least one more match is a big deal, though it's hard to see him retiring in Italy, rather than in Minnesota at SummerSlam. That could tip WWE's hand in having Lesnar win in Italy to set up a SummerSlam rubber match. Either way, it's interesting to have gone with such an emotional moment for Lesnar at WrestleMania only for him to be back in action so quickly. Grade: B
What else happened on WWE Raw?
- Finn Balor def. JD McDonagh via pinfall in a street fight. Balor had the match in hand before an unsurprising appearance from Dominik Mysterio, which allowed McDonagh to superplex Balor through a table for a near fall. Mysterio and McDonagh continued the attack until Balor pulled McDonagh in the way of a 619, hit Mysterio with a trash can and then delivered a Coup de Grace to McDonagh, who was inside the trash can, for the win.
- Sol Ruca confronted Becky Lynch. First, the two talked backstage, with Lynch telling Ruca she clearly isn't ready for the big time and to go back to NXT. Ruca instead went to the ring and challenged Lynch to a match on the spot. Lynch ultimately told Ruca to really think about it, because if Ruca wants it, she'll face her with the women's intercontinental championship on the line at Saturday Night's Main Event.
- El Grande Americano & Los Americanos def. "The Original" El Grande Americano and Los Americanos Hermanos via pinfall after El Grande Americano hit Bruto Credo with a loaded headbutt.
- A sit-down interview with Ethan Page was shown. Page vowed to be the first man to put "fear" into Penta's vocabulary when they meet for the intercontinental championship at Saturday Night's Main Event.
- Women's Tag Team Championship -- Brie Bella & Paige (c) def. Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez via pinfall when Bella rolled up Perez. Liv Morgan interfered multiple times, but Bella was able to outsmart the challengers. As Morgan attacked after the match, Lyra Valkyria and Bayley ran in to fight off Rodriguez, Perez and Morgan.
- Seth Rollins def. Austin Theory via pinfall after a pedigree. Rollins laid out an open challenge to The Vision and said he was hoping Bron Breakker would prove who he was by accepting the challenge. Instead, Heyman convinced Breakker to let Theory take the match so that he could attack Rollins. That's exactly what happened, with Breakker taking out not only Rollins, but also the Street Profits.
