 What's good John spoiled Ross back again with another video. So we're gonna check out raw underground was odd The title says it all I Just don't know what they were trying to do with raw underground Like they were trying to make it more of this like fight club You know I'm saying like it was supposed to be like this Underground thing after Monday Night Raw more of a fight club feel like it was just a ring with no ropes It was like a work shoot fight. I don't know but it just it didn't work It didn't work. It was just I don't know what it was. It was weird. I mean granted. I give them credit for I guess trying something different, but It I didn't know I'm just like is this a work shoot WWE has done this in the past with like Work shoots like they at one point was trying to do like this boxing thing It's like a work shoot, but it didn't really work and it's like they kind of recreated that thing now Well back then one more of the MMA style, I guess but once again, it didn't work. So we're gonna check out this very strange thing they were trying to To put over appreciate all love and support. Let's get into this one, man The Thunderdome era of WWE was flat out odd at times since everything was in disarray allowed them to try out new ideas Some of these ideas were welcomed while others not so much New August of 2020 the build to SummerSlam was well underway and from out of nowhere They brought out a MMA fight club-esque concept Raw underground raw underground isn't exactly a foreign concept and wrestling It reminds me of those fight pin matches and of course brawl for all except this was scripted We're seeing shoot fights and JBL getting knocked out and in some ways keyword some ways have an MMA full-on MMA and pro wrestling is just Confusing there wasn't really high hopes for this one But the biggest problem was not the MMA with raw underground. It's a whole different story for now Let's talk about how raw underground came to be ever since the turn of the millennium You had heard of WWE's interest in pursuing MMA Shane McMahon in particular was very interested in purchasing UFC This was pre Dana White pre Zufa and around the time the WWF was at its absolute peak that never materialized in a second attempt by the McMahons came around 2004 But they weren't willing to go all out because even if Vince did purchase UFC It would have been almost impossible to control two huge companies at the same time And I doubt that UFC would have become as big as it was then sometime in the mid-2000s Shane really wanted to buy pride That's crazy. Think about that if Vince would have purchased UFC Do you think it would have been as big as it was as it is now? I'm not sure Because his focus, you know was still on the WWE. So it probably would have been just like a little Passion project. I don't know if it would have went anywhere. So that would have been interesting And I'm pretty sure he would have implemented some of that Entertainment into something that's supposed to be, you know, real combat sports. So I believe this was around late 2006 when pride was dying a bit They had some issues some financial issues and they wanted to sell Shane wanted to take control of the company and have his own thing but Vince was skeptical feeling he can't control the outcomes because Investing in said wrestler means you expect said investment to come good with a knockout all that hype would be for nothing Of course a couple of months later in March of 2007 Zufa purchased pride for around 65 million and brought the fighters to UFC Basically ending the company and it was a while before you heard some rumblings of WWE MMA crossing over Of course Brock Lesnar within the span of two months at one point had a UFC fight against Mark Hunt and faced Randy Ornes SummerSlam and since WWE around 2019 and 20 was trying a lot of new things that dark around with the 24-7 Championship cuck storylines Because the ratings are falling rapidly Viewers didn't care or hopping off and it didn't help that Monday night football was near personally at the time watching Waiting until 1 or 2 a.m. For on watching disappointment unfold is the worst case scenario And whenever they did try something you knew it was because of desperation as you guys may know Shane McMahon is a huge fan of MMA He's friends with Chuck Ladell and has been closely following the sport So doing raw underground was the big thing for him when asked if he has input on raw underground quite a bit This goes way back. This isn't an original concept. This is more going back to Roman gladiator times where they used to have short Matches there's been lots of stuff for similar things. I should say in Japan for quite some time I've been traveling to Japan since the late 80s when I was a teenager and I saw some of this And it's always resonated with me. You mentioned MMA a lot of my friends do this sport I also practice multiple forms of it and I really enjoy it So if you can blend that with WWE entertainment and what we can have come together It's a work in progress and that's what we're trying to accomplish So as you see here, he's been wanting to do this for a while. They tried to purchase UFC pride But those purchases were unsuccessful which leads us to raw underground on the August 3rd 2020 episode of raw underground officially paid you get some dancers, which were actual strippers I should know the old fitting a grungy location in oh wow Damn They pay some real strippers to be out there. That's crazy Nick man hosted the show. There was a huge emphasis on a man by the name of daba Kato He immediately destroyed some random killed another one all shanes talking on the mic As you can see here, there was an importance to MMA It was a really different vibe, especially when you see how smooth regular WWE feel This was just out there and it was greedy It also helped the wrestlers with the back riding Matt restroom combat sports like Dolph Ziggler because they immediately looked cool out There because of how cold-hearted he was and trying to knock out his opponent Then you have the newly formed hurt business looking like the final bosses of the room poor guy over here Didn't know what he was getting into answers kind of felt provocative as this era of WWE They didn't really have that type of stuff not this era. It's the current era, but you get what I mean Even Shelton Benjamin looked like a badass just by stepping in here They cleared the room of everybody with ease and showed that the underground was anybody's place They just have to fight for it amongst other stories on a show where Riddick Moss and Arturo who was clearing the competition They had that dog in them, especially who was Daba Kato though had the most focus and I think it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Why bro was so damn big and playing by his own rules. What about the woman Shayna Baszler was hungry for competition Nobody really wanted to fight but she forced a fight and attracted the rest of the woman It seemed like she was done, but they were 54 overall. So you know how it ended Which I personally don't get but whatever the good part about this whole thing though is that guys were doing something Especially if they had the background in sport Ziggler here was doing very well Marina Shafir debuted and even night Jax made an appearance to absolutely nothing She didn't want to wrestle. Fans in general weren't receptive to underground and after WWE moved to the Thunderdome That would become more apparent Bobby Lashley once again looked like the final boss that showed destroying random people in Dolph Ziggler Even tried to be some respect out of Cedric Alexander at one point. Some of the storylines on regular Raw even made their way to underground. Her business was dominated destroying the likes of Ricochet and Apollo Crews Kevin Owens and Alistair Black took their feud to the mat. There was some stuff going on But of course back to Daba Kato. He was the big guy over here He was out here destroying Kevin Owens Alistair Black and these were matches. This was during their match He interfered because he got bumped into he left his mark and basically showed that he was the future He's gonna debut on the main roster cause chaos Well, we all know how that ended yeah In storyline because the word was getting out of this thing Braun Strowman and the bigger guys were appearing often He went through Riddick and even dropped Ziggler before having a confrontation with Daba Kato. Shane thought Why not next week? Of course when it happened the newcomer one, right? Wrong From there disappeared and nobody heard a word about Apparently a COVID outbreak happened around the September 28th episode of Raw and worried about the virus spreading WWE put it on hold before outright cancelling it. So a raw underground after two months was officially over. Was it missed? Hell no. The thing with the concept is that it wasn't thought out properly What I mean by that is they just they got the idea probably from Bloodsport Which was popping up a bit at that time and thought how do we do a WWE version and another To mention is that it was just there. Of course, there's gonna be some picture of Shane is funny Wrestlers and storylines with a lust for blood or just competition But the problem with it is that it had no general stakes to it no rewards No incentive just Shane McMahon with beef ab random stuff happens and that's it at the same time though The show doesn't overstay its welcome. It just happens like that You don't have a 30-minute show involving underground none of that It's just a few minutes and they move on to the next thing the idea though Lacked a lot to it and if well thought out it would have been better because personally I like the concept You know, I like MMA. I watch MMA. I watch the pay reviews this and that I take an interest in it and if I were to see WWE wrestlers have their own scripted fights I'd be interested in a bit. It's a little niche seeing these wrestlers in a different environment is welcome for me Dove Ziggler Chad Gable hell What if Brock Lesnar randomly showed up and plowed through the competition just killed everybody would have been cool Wrestlers who grew stressed with following the rules entering a world where rules cease to exist and have to rely on Brutality to survive. That's how I feel it should have been plus they were building up some guys like Riddick Moss and Daba Kato But by the end of it, they all lost the regular guys They look good for a moment especially Daba Kato But by the end of it that they lost if it were to continue afterwards They probably should have built them up a bit more because these guys are underground originals Yeah, that's wrong around weird idea. I kind of I'm not gonna lie. I kind of liked it a bit more for what I'm making the video Still not good. It's not In another world, this would have been even better than it was. I think there was a little potential dick There was a little potential for this because it's a niche, you know, some people are gonna be interested in seeing wrestlers WWE wrestlers I should know doing their little MMA thing even if it's scripted No, I was kind of interested in it because we don't usually see Dove Ziggler Eric Ivar Bobby Lashley these guys have these fights straight up like this, you know, they usually bounce off the ropes Suplex whatever here. They were fighting just to survive and win simple as that and I like that concept But it should have been well thought out in order for it to have become a success. So yeah All right, what'd you guys think of raw underground? Please comment down below Make sure you hit a punch on the like button. Hey, man. This was a good video I'm gonna go ahead and give the homie a like man. I already subscribed to him wrestling premier me personally I Just I Couldn't really get into it. I was just like, I don't know. This is not it's not hidden. It's not hidden You're you're literally you're trying to pretty much do of Somewhat of a work shoot for MMA and it's just it just wasn't it, you know They tried something different. I give them credit for trying something different getting tapping into that world But we all know is it's a work shoot So we all know like it's it's not these guys really going out there trying to Kill each other because if that was the case a lot of these guys are on the main roster They would get hurt. So it's you know, it kind of it doesn't really It doesn't really play out the same way as a actual MMA fight because actually MMA fight These guys are getting hurt. They're trying to end each other. They're trying to break bones and tear ligaments These guys are not really trying to do that. And even if they do have some type of MMA Background, it still has a scripted element. It just didn't really pan out as much as I think So comment down below. Let me know, you know, do you guys Did you guys enjoy raw underground? Did you guys wanted to continue? Or did you guys feel like it was it? It didn't hit the market feel like it's probably should have ended Even sooner than what it did or in and do some of you guys miss it, you know Let me know down below, but I appreciate all the love and support you guys showing on channel road to a hundred fifty Can I'm still gonna speed a youtube wrestling champion of the world and also and because we're heavily champion appreciate y'all kicking me