Fascinating WWE Ideas That Flopped HARD!
9. Raw Underground
Shane McMahon attempting to embarrassingly keep himself relevant as a deeply cringy host and fishnet dancers aside, Raw Underground had the makings of a quite fascinating addition to Monday nights.
Having various savage WWE workers obliterate jobbers in these MMA/Fight Club-inspired squashes did briefly make the likes of Braun Strowman, Shayna Baszler, and The Hurt Business feel like talents not to be messed with.
And if WWE dropped the silly music in the background, kept Shane O' away from a mic, and maybe chucked in a few more intriguing sprint-style matches between more equally matched "fighters" perhaps this "underground" idea would have been remembered as more than just another pandemic era swing and a miss.
In the end, though, partly due to nobody exactly clamouring for more sweaty Shane commentary, and because WWE didn't want to risk the extras involved in the segments potentially spreading the virus after a COVID outbreak (via the Wrestling Observer Newsletter), Raw Underground was cancelled after just a few months.
Though a slightly less surreal version of the concept would still be occasionally chucked onto NXT in 2023.
There was definitely potential in a gritty, sprint-stuffed corner of the red show, but Raw Underground's dumb attempts to be "cool" and "edgy" ultimately flopped hard.