The fallout from WWE Clash In Italy will not have much time to settle before WWE Monday Night RAW returns to the Inalpi Arena in Turin, Italy, for the next major stop on the company’s Summer European Tour. Today’s episode will air live worldwide on Netflix at a special start time of 2 p.m. EST, only 24 hours after Roman Reigns survived Jacob Fatu in Tribal Combat, Brock Lesnar finally handed Oba Femi his first major setback on the main roster and Sol Ruca stunned Becky Lynch to capture the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. The red brand is now tasked with turning the page from one major international show to the next. The road to WWE Night of Champions on June 27th at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, officially begins today, but RAW will also launch the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments. The finals will take place at Night of Champions, with the winners earning World Championship opportunities at SummerSlam. That gives today’s episode a clear purpose from the opening bell: deal with the consequences of yesterday, establish the next chapter of Roman Reigns’ family war and begin narrowing two loaded tournament fields.
Here is everything advertised for today’s show
- Roman Reigns’ Acknowledgement Ceremony with Jacob Fatu
- Oba Femi vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta vs. Solo Sikoa vs. Carmelo Hayes (King of the Ring First-Round Fatal Four-Way Match)
- WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Chelsea Green (Queen of the Ring First-Round Fatal Four-Way Match)
WWE Clash In Italy delivered a compact card, but nearly every result created an immediate follow-up question. Cody Rhodes retained the Undisputed WWE Championship against Gunther in controversial fashion. Rhea Ripley defeated Jade Cargill to remain WWE Women’s Champion before the situation involving Cargill and Charlotte Flair added another layer to the women’s division. Sol Ruca scored the biggest victory of her WWE career by defeating Becky Lynch for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. Brock Lesnar avenged his WrestleMania loss to Oba Femi after a heavyweight fight that forced The Ruler to absorb a punishing barrage of F-5s. Roman Reigns closed the show by defeating Jacob Fatu in Tribal Combat to retain the World Heavyweight Championship and protect his position at the head of the family table.
The most important RAW-specific fallout will come from Reigns and Fatu. Yesterday’s Tribal Combat match was violent, physical and built around more than a championship. Reigns was not simply trying to defeat Fatu. He wanted to break the Samoan Werewolf’s resistance and make it clear that raw power alone would not be enough to overthrow him. Fatu repeatedly fought through the punishment, but Reigns targeted his hand to neutralize the Tongan Death Grip, survived his late comeback and finally put him down after driving him through a table with a Spear before delivering one more decisive Spear in the ring.
Now comes the uncomfortable part.
Fatu must appear in front of Reigns and acknowledge him. That does not necessarily mean he will fall in line quietly. Fatu has never been presented as someone who accepts humiliation without a response, and Solo Sikoa’s post-match stare-down with Reigns left another loose end hanging over the entire story. Reigns has technically defeated Fatu, but WWE has not exhausted the larger family conflict. Today’s ceremony could be a coronation for Reigns, the beginning of an uneasy alliance or the moment Fatu decides that losing a match does not mean surrendering his identity. The segment needs to move the story forward rather than simply replay the familiar Bloodline formula with different people standing in the ring.
The King of the Ring tournament begins with a Fatal Four-Way Match that feels important for four completely different reasons.
Oba Femi enters the tournament one day after losing to Brock Lesnar, but yesterday’s result did not damage him. If anything, the match reinforced WWE’s confidence in him. Femi stood toe-to-toe with one of the most protected stars in company history, absorbed repeated F-5s and still forced Lesnar to keep reaching deeper into his arsenal. WWE must now decide whether The Ruler immediately regains momentum by bulldozing his way into the semifinals or whether his unresolved issue with Lesnar becomes the explanation for another setback.
Penta brings the Intercontinental Championship into the match and gives the field a proven, established centerpiece. Solo Sikoa has the most obvious storyline connection to the night because his presence allows WWE to keep the Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu situation hovering over the tournament. Carmelo Hayes may be the smallest man in the match, but he is also the type of wrestler built for a Fatal Four-Way environment. He does not need to overpower anyone. He only needs one opening, one mistake or one well-timed pinfall after the other three competitors have done most of the damage.
The match should be physical without becoming predictable. Femi is the obvious favorite on paper, but Solo has Bloodline-related distractions surrounding him, Penta cannot be treated like an afterthought while holding the Intercontinental Championship and Hayes gives WWE an easy way to create a surprise without beating one of the bigger names decisively. That uncertainty is exactly what the opening round needs.
The Queen of the Ring tournament match may be even more interesting because all four women enter with something different to prove.
Liv Morgan is already the Women’s World Champion, but she has made her intentions clear: she wants to win the Queen of the Ring tournament, earn another championship opportunity and leave SummerSlam as a double World Champion. That instantly gives the tournament more weight. Morgan is not entering because she needs a shortcut to the title picture. She is entering because she wants more power, more leverage and another accomplishment to hold over the rest of the division.
Becky Lynch enters at the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. She lost the Women’s Intercontinental Championship to Sol Ruca yesterday and now has to rebound less than 24 hours later against three difficult opponents. Lynch is experienced enough to recover quickly, but the turnaround matters. A loss today would turn one bad weekend into a serious downward spiral.
Alexa Bliss is the unpredictable variable. She does not need to dominate the match to win it, and her presence makes it harder for anyone to assume the match will simply become another chapter in the Liv Morgan and Becky Lynch rivalry. Chelsea Green is the opportunist. She is the competitor most likely to survive while the bigger names focus on each other and steal the victory at the exact moment everyone else lets their guard down.
The tournament structure gives both matches urgency. Each opening-round match is a Fatal Four-Way, but the winners advance into one-on-one semifinal matches before the King and Queen of the Ring finals take place at Night of Champions in Riyadh. For the complete brackets, every first-round matchup and a closer look at the paths each wrestler will have to navigate, make sure to check out our full LNC Wrestling article covering the King and Queen of the Ring bracket reveal.
RAW also has several broader issues to address after Clash In Italy. Becky Lynch must explain what went wrong against Sol Ruca. Oba Femi has to respond to his loss to Brock Lesnar without losing the aura WWE has worked hard to establish. Roman Reigns may have beaten Jacob Fatu, but Solo Sikoa’s looming presence means the family conflict is far from resolved. WWE also needs to begin shaping a Night of Champions card that feels like the next major destination rather than a placeholder between Clash In Italy and SummerSlam.
That is the real challenge for today’s show. WWE has enough material for a strong episode, but it must avoid trying to cram every possible follow-up into one afternoon. The special start time, the European crowd and the tournament format should give RAW a different energy. The matches need room to breathe. The Reigns and Fatu segment needs a meaningful development. The Night of Champions build needs to begin with a clear direction.
Final thoughts
Today’s WWE Monday Night RAW has the pieces to be one of the more focused episodes of the red brand in recent weeks. Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu remain the biggest storyline attraction, but the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments give the episode an immediate competitive backbone. Oba Femi, Penta, Solo Sikoa and Carmelo Hayes should deliver a hard-hitting men’s Fatal Four-Way with several believable outcomes. Liv Morgan, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss and Chelsea Green bring star power, recent history and enough uncertainty to make the women’s tournament opener equally compelling.
The key is execution. WWE does not need to overcomplicate the show. Let the tournament matches establish the road to Night of Champions. Let the Clash In Italy fallout feel consequential. Most importantly, let Jacob Fatu’s acknowledgement ceremony create a real turning point rather than another temporary pause in a story that still has plenty of life left in it.
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I’m the quiet one until the bell rings then I’ve got takes. I live for WWE NXT and TNA, I want every promotion to succeed, and I will absolutely roast the bad decisions on sight (because someone has to). Anime taught me to respect long-term storytelling; wrestling taught me that sometimes the plan is “we panicked” and called it “unpredictable.” The Miz got me into all of this, so yeah I appreciate confidence, commitment, and the art of talking like you’re already the main event. Now I bring that same energy to the page as the main writer for Late Night Crew Wrestling because if you’re not here to be must-see and tell the truth, why are you here?!