This Week’s Raw Underground Was Heavily Changed

On the cutting room floor. Monday Night Raw is the biggest wrestling show in the world and with that comes a lot of pressure. While it is certainly a big show, it is also not always the best show and as a result, WWE tries to shake things up from time to time. Some of these changes are better than others but this week there was a chance to one of the bigger changes.

Last month, WWE debuted a new concept called Raw Underground, which is basically an underground fight club with WWE wrestlers and extras in worked shoot fights in a back room. Shane McMahon serves as host every week and wrestlers such as Dolph Ziggler, the Viking Raiders and the Hurt Business have made regular appearances. Those are just some of the names, but even those who participated this week didn’t all make it to air.

According to Fightful Select, WWE filmed several additional Raw Underground segments for this week’s show, including one involving Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke winning a fight each. Also planned was Titus O’Neil vs. Riddick Moss and an advertised match between Dolph Ziggler and Ivar, which never took place. Ziggler did appear, losing to Bobby Lashley and Ivar got involved after the fight was over. There is no word on which of these segments were filmed, why they were scrapped or if they will air in the future.

We did get some stuff though. Check out what made air:

Opinion: I can’t say I’m surprised at this, as Monday Night Raw tends to undergo a lot of changes, which can make for a big mess. That being said, it’s an especially bad sign if they make a reference to something airing later in the same show and then it never happens. If it isn’t going to take place then give us an explanation as to why, especially if both people involved do something else on the show.

What did you think of what aired? Does the unaired material sound better? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for “GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES” to sign up. Thank you for reading!