10 2020 Moments WWE Must NEVER Do Again

7. Going Underground

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Speaking of half-baked ideas.

Last summer, Shane McMahon was cast as a testosterone-fuelled host who enjoyed watching people beat the stuffing out of one another in seedy fight rings. His 'Raw Underground' concept was born, and then it died within just a few months when it failed to spike the show's ratings on USA.

It's not hard to see why now; Underground broke one of wrestling's golden rules by presenting itself as superior and real compared to the regular in-ring fare. Basically, Shane harped on about how his fights were grittier than anything else on WWE TV. That was never going to work long-term.

How could it? Just like the woeful 'Brawl For All' of the late-90s (which, admittedly, was even thicker 'cause the fights were 100% authentic), Underground palmed off the very thing fans tune in to see - pro wrestling played background noise to the project until WWE got bored.

 
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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.