3 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Clash In Italy (Results & Review)
1. Colossally Bad Booking
Oba Femi is a once-in-a-generation talent, a rare combination of athleticism, charisma, and an unmistakable crowd connection that can’t be faked. WWE has a gold mine on their hands here – all they needed to do was stay the course and book him to dominate until the wheels fell off.
At Clash in Italy Sunday, WWE knocked the wheels off themselves and derailed their own homegrown megastar by feeding him to an over-the-hill, part-time wrestler who has been appearing to diminishing returns for years and is name-dropped 40-plus times in a sex trafficking lawsuit.
Brilliant move, geniuses.
WWE fed Oba to Brock Lesnar in what could pass for an extended squash, with Lesnar nailing seven F-5s and locking in a kimura for about one-quarter of the match. Femi would fight back, but he never really was in control for more than a few fleeting seconds.
Just like that, WWE fell back into their old trope of booking a trilogy, with Brock avenging his WrestleMania loss. In doing so, WWE sacrificed Oba’s unblemished aura and an opportunity to do something truly unique. Instead, we’re likely getting a third Femi/Lesnar match that – no matter how great it is on the night – will do nothing to make Oba a bigger star or elevate him any more than his perfect WrestleMania 42 feud and squash already has done for him.
Even WCW managed to not screw up Goldberg’s undefeated streak for 15 months. WWE pissed Femi’s away in less than four.