Cody Rhodes thinks WWE Clash has already become ‘Big Four’ PLE
Cody Rhodes thinks WWE’s international Clash events have already made their mark as one of the biggest shows the company puts on each year.
While speaking with ESPN Unsportsmanlike ahead of Sunday’s Clash in Italy, Rhodes said he would personally rank Clash as one of WWE’s “Big Four” PLEs alongside WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam. He also mentioned Money in the Bank as being in contention but thinks Survivor Series — a traditional “Big Four” event — no longer occupies one of those spots.
“I think Clash is sneaking up as one of WWE’s ‘Big Four’ PLEs,” Rhodes said. “The fact that it’s somewhere new international each year. And Italy, I think they’re up to the task.”
Previous Clash events have been held in Paris (2025), Glasgow (2024), and Cardiff (2022), with this becoming a signature event for the European market.
“I think Clash is becoming that [a ‘Big Four’ event] because of the international appeal of it and the fact that, you know, it’s moving all around,” Rhodes said. “I like that it gives every city an opportunity to be the best Clash.”
Rhodes gave WWE president Nick Khan credit for identifying international markets to visit. Those European countries are now competing with each other to be the loudest WWE crowd.
“I think right now one of the things you’re seeing with the international crowds and Nick Khan’s been so good about identifying this in the different markets, is they’re almost competing with each other in a fun way,” Rhodes said. “In a sense of, ‘Well, Lyon, France is the loudest crowd ever in WWE history. We’re going to be even louder.’ Even some more subdued, you know, the German crowd always fills the arenas but they’re a little bit more subdued in the noise and the acoustics, even they have decided, ‘No, we’re getting in on being the loudest crowd.’ And that’s really the challenge that we present to them.”
Cody Rhodes at WWE Clash in Italy —
Rhodes enters Sunday’s event in Turin as the Undisputed WWE Champion. He’ll be putting the title on the line against Gunther, and fans won’t have to wait very long for their matchup. Rhodes vs. Gunther has been announced as one of the matches scheduled for the first hour of the show. It begins at 2 p.m. Eastern time with the first hour being simulcast on ESPN.
Rhea Ripley vs. Jade Cargill for the WWE Women’s Championship is the other match set for hour one. In the Unsportsmanlike interview, Rhodes praised Ripley by saying he doesn’t think there is a bigger star in the wrestling space than her right now.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.