Jim Cornette slammed Roman Reigns and his match with Jacob Fatu at Clash In Italy in a blistering review on his podcast, Jim Cornette’s Drive Thru.
“This was a indie fuckin’ wrestling match with big names,” Cornette said before adding, “This brought to my mind everything that I don’t like about modern fuckin’ wrestling — all in the same match.”
The legendary manager-turned-promoter-turned-podcaster called out several issues, noting how long it took for Tribal Combat to begin after the previous match
had ended, and a rare moment of poor selling by Reigns as the combatants did “fake walk-fighting” through the arena.
“At one point, Jacob ran Roman Reigns’ head into a chair, and Roman stood up and pulled his pants up and just kept walking.”
Billed as Tribal Combat, Cornette cited a lack of symbolism to differentiate it from a standard no-holds-barred encounter. For Cornette, elements like a Slim Jim-sponsored table and pristine weapons took away from the gritty nature of what was supposed to be a personal blood feud.
Continuing his detailed assessment, he questioned the logic on a couple of spear spots, including one on the floor and one later in the ring that put Fatu down for good.
“My problem is how the fuck can he get up from the goddamn spear through the barricade, but he can’t get up from the spear in the ring,” Cornette said. The pacing, which he called “glacial,” and moments of inaction, including Reigns stopping to talk trash, also dragged the match down.
Cornette was just as disappointed by the announcing, specifically Michael Cole’s call that said, “The Samoan Werewolf has been neutered.”
“Jacob, they had him right there. And I don’t know if he’s there no more,” Cornette said, referring to how wildly popular Fatu was at the start of his WWE career in 2024, before seemingly declining since.
Fatu entered the match with a reported back injury sustained days earlier at a live event. Cornette questioned whether that might have had something to do with the bout being what it was. He noted that Fatu looked limited early in the match before later doing things one wouldn’t expect from someone dealing with a bad back.
Reigns may have also been hampered by nagging aches and pains, as he wore a protective pad on his left elbow during the match. He was later seen icing the arm in a post-show segment with Cody Rhodes, though the extent of any injury is unclear.
The bout was also Reigns’ third match in six weeks. In 2025, Reigns wrestled his third match three months after his first bout of the year, suggesting he may be adjusting to his new, more active schedule.
Still, fans in Turin, Italy, seemed to enjoy the match, despite some of its flaws. While one rough outing in the eyes of one reviewer isn’t enough to sink the latest Bloodline saga, Cornette wasn’t optimistic for its future following Raw after Clash.
“The Bloodline was the thing you slowed down for. There’s more exciting shit going on now,” said Cornette in a separate clip from the show, joining online fans and critics who have called this chapter of the Bloodline a rehash.
