I had pizza in Venice once and it was crap - just dough and sauce with some onions and peppers. But it wasn’t served as a main dish, more like bread with your dinner - there probably is another version of Italian pizza that is more like what we would expect.
American versions of old country food sometimes is better than the original.
My experience was the exact same...I don't think they knew what pizza was...{the wags were right pizza originated in NYC.]