Originally, Meltzer reported that the fight club concept was put on hold for two weeks due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak among NXT talent and concerns that some of the extras used were possibly exposed.
Even though most, if not all, of the talent who were affected are back, the format didn’t fit with the recent draft episode. There are also still concerns about the competitors and extras potentially spreading the virus to the Raw crew so they are trying to keep all three brands separated as much as possible.
WWE introduced Underground on the August 3rd Raw, hosted by Shane McMahon. It was presented as a fight club where wrestlers would fight each other in a “no holds barred” format. There was never a reason given for its creation other than that McMahon wanted to see it happen.
Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, Ivar, Titus O’Neil, Riddick Moss, Marina Shafir, and Dabba-Kato are among those who appeared as part of Raw Underground.
A new match for Raw Underground is set for next week.
Braun Strowman vs. Dabba-Kato was set after the two had a confrontation tonight on Raw Underground. Strowman insisted on being let inside on tonight’s show, telling Shane McMahon he wanted his best fighter.
Strowman proceeded to spend the night destroying people left and right, including Dolph Ziggler, Titus O’Neil and Riddick Moss. That was when Dabba-Kato showed up and the two ended up having a staredown. McMahon stopped the two from fighting, saying to save it for next week.
Although Strowman is part of the SmackDown brand, Michael Cole on commentary said that it was his understanding that anyone could enter Raw Underground, regardless of brand.
Dabba-Kato has appeared on Raw Underground since its inception, destroying people left and right whenever he stepped up to the challenge. He has not appeared on any other WWE programming outside of Raw Underground.
A Raw Underground match has been announced for next week’s post-SummerSlam episode of Raw.
Ivar of The Viking Raiders will face off with Dolph Ziggler in Raw Underground next Monday. The match comes after Ziggler defeated Ivar’s partner Erik in Raw Underground tonight.
After Erik defeated an opponent in Raw Underground this week, Shane McMahon interviewed Ziggler about Erik’s performance. Ziggler said the performance was a 4/10 at best. Ziggler then defeated Erik with a sleeper after poking Erik in the eye with his thumb. Following the match, Ivar tackled Ziggler into the crowd.
NXT’s Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke appeared in a Raw Underground segment tonight alongside fellow Four Horsewomen of MMA member Shayna Baszler. After Shafir got a win, Nia Jax came into the ring and knocked her down from behind. Jax then taunted Duke and Baszler. She kicked Duke but bailed on a match against Baszler.
Earlier in the night, Jax attacked Baszler while Baszler was teaming with Asuka against Sasha Banks & Bayley. Baszler brawled with Jax but returned to the match and got the win for her team by submitting Bayley with the Kirifuda Clutch.
Date: August 10, 2020 Location: WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL
The Big Takeaway —
Raw concluded with a very entertaining angle involving Randy Orton and Ric Flair.
Seth Rollins beat the hell out of Dominick with a kendo stick. Asuka submitted Bayley to earn a title shot against Sasha Banks.
Raw Underground continued and the fighters focused on this week were Riddick Moss, Arturo Ruas, Dabba-Katto, and Shayna Baszler.
Retribution’s actions this week included breaking a window, dimming the lights slightly, and kicking a car that was flipped over.
Show Recap —
There was a tribute graphic for James “Kamala” Harris. RIP.
The announcers ran down tonight’s card, including more Underground at 10pm.
Samoa Joe was in the ring for a contract signing between Seth Rollins and Dominick. Joe said he would try to keep things professional. Byron Saxton on commentary said Joe can’t get involved physically or else he will lose his job.
Joe introduced both men while trying to egg on Rollins. Dominick entered with a kendo stick but Joe decided to hold it for him. Rollins wondered what his problem was. Joe said Rollins could have been the greatest superstar of his generation but he got caught up with the crowd booing him a few times.
Joe spoke about what he did to Rey Mysterio and Aleister Black and wondered what would have happened to him if Dominick didn’t show up. Rollins said he gave Dominick a choice and Joe should pick the right choice too or else. Rollins wanted to be “Seth freakin’ Rollins” but he was forced to make sacrifices for the greater good. He wondered when it would be enough.
Dominick said it would never be enough. He said Rollins changed his father and Aleister for the worse and the only good he fought for was himself. Rollins said Dominick was on the verge of becoming a WWE superstar and he should be thanking him. Dominick said this was his dream but now his dream was to kick Rollins’ ass at SummerSlam. Rollins laughed.
Rollins said Dominick wouldn’t last 10 seconds in the ring with him in a real wrestling match. Rollins offered to allow Dominick to use the kendo stick or any other weapon in the match so he would have no excuse when he ends his career before it began.
Rollins and Dominick each signed the contract. Dominick also signed a second contract making him a member of the roster. Rollins congratulated him on becoming a WWE superstar. Rollins told him to watch what he does to Humberto Carrillo up next.
Murphy distracted Carrillo so Dominick took him out with the kendo stick. Carrillo was still distracted long enough for Rollins to counter a moonsault and follow with a superkick, powerbomb and curb stomp for the pinfall win.
Murphy attacked Dominick after the match. Dominick fought back and tackled Rollins but Murphy made the save and they overwhelmed him. Rollins hit Dominick with the kendo stick four times before they took off his shirt and Rollins continued the attack.
They tied him up in the ropes and Rollins continued to hit him with the stick as Rollins looked in the camera and taunted Mysterio. Murphy grabbed another kendo stick. (Carrillo could be seen down near the announce table, dead from being hit by three wrestling moves.)
Rollins hit Dominick in the chest/stomach while Murphy hit him in the back. Dominick’s body was all bruised. Rollins went for the stomp but Dominick collapsed. Rollins looked into the camera and said, “To be continued, Rey.”
This was a good heat angle but it’s silly that no one came out to help. No officials even ran down.
They aired a replay of the beating Dominick took. Joe said he was basically handcuffed to the desk but believed in Dominick at SummerSlam.
(This isn’t a new thing I guess but they keep saying that SummerSlam is one week from Sunday. They can’t say or show the date. One week from Sunday is 13 days from now, which is basically two weeks.)
There was a video recap of the Retribution stuff.
Zelina Vega entered with Andrade and Angel Garza. She told them to cut their music and someone in the audience yelled, “put the music back on!” Vega said she had nothing to do with the poisoning of Montez Ford and noted that would just jeopardize the title shot for her clients. Vega said she didn’t capitalize on her clients’ success like most women — she created it. She said they would win the titles at SummerSlam.
There were more technical difficulties during Dawkins’ entrance (the video and music cut out for two seconds).
(The match began after a break but not before there was a long commercial for Big Show’s show on Netflix which has some sort of crossover event with another sitcom.)
Dawkins seemed to have the match won but Vega distracted the referee, so Bianca Belair ran out and yanked her from the apron. Dawkins managed to gave Andrade the Cash-Out (pop-up spinebuster) for the pinfall win.
The announcers said Dawkins got retribution for Ford, even though we don’t know that they’re guilty.
Belair was in control until Vega raked the eyes with the ref distracted. Belair began mounting a comeback but she missed a tackle and went shoulder-first into the ring post. Belair followed soon after with a powerbomb and KOD for the pinfall win.
[Second hour]
Charly Caruso asked Belair if she had any evidence. Belair said she and Ford try to keep their careers separate but it was obvious who poisoned him. Dawkins said there’s no way that Ford was going to miss SummerSlam. They want the smoke.
MVP’s VIP Lounge with Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin
MVP claimed a conspiracy against him and blamed the lights going out during the match for his loss. Apollo Crews interrupted. Crews said MVP always had an excuse. MVP noted Crews coming up with his own excuses for missing time. Crews was glad to be back and holding the US title belt that MVP paid thousands of dollars for.
MVP said Crews made a bad decision by turning him down and by coming out here alone. Crews said he was allowed to make bad decisions because he was a bad man. Crews didn’t care about Benjamin or Lashley. He did care about MVP. He said the only lights that would be going out at SummerSlam would be his.
Lashley and Benjamin tried to go after Crews but he slipped in the ring and knocked MVP out of it. He picked up one of the couches and tossed it out of the ring in their direction, which was impressive.
Shelton Benjamin (w/MVP & Bobby Lashley) defeated US Champion Apollo Crews in a non-title match
Lashley tried tripping Crews as he came off the ropes, so Crews stopped and kicked him in the face. The referee saw this all happen and did nothing about it. Benjamin used the distraction to apply a schoolboy and the referee counted the pin. Benjamin pinned Crews. Dumb finish.
Lashley was going to put Crews in the full nelson after the match but MVP told him not to. MVP assured Crews he was just looking out for him. MVP was about to sucker punch him but Crews gave him an enziguri and bailed.
Tom Phillips got word that Retribution has thrown a cinderblock through a window at the Performance Center. They showed footage. A single security guard ran up to the group and told them to “get the hell out of here” and “go home.”
One guy responded by saying, “No, YOU get the hell out of here! YOU got home!” Another guy tossed a cinderblock through a window, then tossed a second cinderblock through the empty space created by the first cinderblock. They celebrated and ran off.
There was a recap of Raw Underground.
Mickie James told Sarah Schreiber she was back to lead the locker room but she also has gold on her mind. Lana and Natalya interrupted and they were booed. Lana wondered how James could lead the locker room if she didn’t even have a Tik Tok. Natalya reminded James that she had the most wins of any women in company history. James made a crack about Natalya riding her family’s coattails. After she left, Natalya and Lana said “rude” at the same time.
8-man tag match: The Viking Raiders, Ricochet & Cedric Alexander defeated Akira Tozawa and three others (1:11)
The Viking Raiders gave one of Tozawa’s ninjas a Viking Experience for the pinfall win.
One of the ninjas had refused to get in the ring during the match. As he left with Tozawa, he rolled him up to win the 24/7 title. It was Truth of course. Awful segment.
Caruso interviewed Drew McIntyre. He said Randy Orton had a death grip on the torch that he ripped from Mick Foley years ago. He said he would rip the torch from Orton’s hand and kick him in the head as hard as he can. Orton would realize that evolution has passed him by. Caruso asked, “What if Kevin Owens ripped the torch from Randy Orton tonight?” McIntyre said he would have a conversation with Owens about the future of Raw if that happened.
Peyton Royce (w/Billie Kay) defeated Liv Morgan (w/Ruby Riott) (2:02)
The IIconics cut a pre-match promo where they mocked their opponents and called themselves iconic.
Kay hopped on the apron so Ruby also hopped on the apron to chase her off. The ref only saw Ruby and yelled at her to get off, which distracted Morgan for some reason. This allowed Royce to hit her spinning brainbuster for the quick pinfall win. Ruby pleaded with Morgan afterwards.
Shane McMahon greeted his security guard Jordan Omogbehin and let us know that Raw Underground was up next because it’s almost 10pm.
Back from break, Raw Underground was underway at 9:53pm.
Riddick Moss beat Cal Bloom with a punch. Shane was on the mic the entire time and said there were no rules. They stopped it once they figured Bloom was knocked out.
[Third hour]
Asuka defeated Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley (w/Raw Champion Sasha Banks) in a non-title match (15:09)
The lights dimmed a few times during the match.
Asuka used a missile dropkick after a commercial break for two. Bayley followed with an ankle lock but Asuka got a rope break. Bayley distracted the referee and Banks attacked Asuka’s leg. Asuka applied an octopus hold and transitioned into an armbar but Bayley countered into a pin attempt for two. Bayley then used an Indian deathlock but Asuka countered into a kneebar.
Bayley fought out but Asuka followed with a Codebreaker for two. Bayley fought Asuka off the buckles and used a flying elbow drop for a nearfall. Bayley used a spinning back fist and sunset powerbomb into the buckle. Bayley mocked Kairi Sane until Asuka caught her in the Asuka Lock for the submission win. Asuka earns a title match against Banks.
Good match. It also felt completely different than every other match so far.
Back at Raw Underground. Arturo Ruas beat his opponent easily with a spinning kick.
After a break, Dabba-Kato easily beat his opponent after grabbing his nuts and punching him out.
Shayna Baszler got in Dabba-Kato’s face but Shane told him to leave the ring to her. Nobody got in the ring initially so Baszler attacked someone on the outside. She proceeded to take down three different women. Each woman recovered and tried to attack but Baszler knocked them all down again.
Shane said we should tune in next week to see what’s next, so I guess that’s it for tonight.
A cameraman found Retribution kicking a turned over car outside the building.
Randy Orton (w/Ric Flair) defeated Kevin Owens (13:15)
The match started at 10:29pm.
Owens gave Orton a cannonball into the barricade which led to a break. Owens was still in control following the break and hit Orton with chops and punches. Orton countered an Irish whip and tossed Owens into the steel steps. Orton smashed his face into the plexiglass and broke up the referee’s count to toss Owens into the steps again.
Owens rolled into the ring at the count of seven and Orton used the Garvin stomp. Owens fought back and they traded strikes until Owens hit a clothesline and senton. Orton left the ring and gave Owens a back suplex on the announce table which led to a two count.
Owens headbutted Orton off the buckle and followed with a senton for a nearfall. Owens went for a stunner but Orton countered into an RKO for the pinfall win.
The match was over by 10:43pm.
Orton asked Flair to remain in the ring because there was something they needed to talk about, plus they needed to celebrate. Commercial break.
Randy Orton / Ric Flair segment
Orton said he had every right to be pissed at Flair but he couldn’t be mad at the Nature Boy. He said there was no reason for him to have to face Owens but Flair’s ego got in the way. Orton said he has learned so much from Flair and that’s one of the reasons he’s still competing after all of these years.
Orton mentioned getting into some trouble in Peoria, Illinois when he was 22 years old and Flair was the only one there to help him out.
Orton respected Flair before but he doesn’t anymore. He doesn’t love Flair anymore. Orton called Flair a liability. Orton knew that Flair wanted him to be the son he wished he had. Orton asked Flair if he was crying (he wasn’t). Orton told him to cry because that’s all he’s good for.
Orton admonished Flair for having health problems. He called Flair a junky for the spotlight who didn’t have it anymore. Orton was going to win the championship for the 14th time, which is all that Flair should be concerned with, but he was just worried about himself.
Flair took the mic. He said he was taking this seriously. Flair said the Ric Flair from 2001 wasn’t here anymore. He admitted that he liked being with Orton because yes, he does like being in the spotlight. He’s 71 years old and still gets to be on Raw. Guys like Hulk Hogan call him and ask him what it’s like.
Flair wanted to be there when Orton eventually broke his record — not John Cena’s record — his record. Flair called Orton the best performer in the business and he loved being with him.
Flair said that after being in intensive care for 31 days, all he wanted was to tell the people he cared about that he loved them. Flair became emotional telling this story. He said he was just Charlotte’s dad now and wanted to be in Orton’s corner when he broke the record.
Orton slapped the mic away and hugged him. After Flair turned around, Orton gave him a low-blow. The crowd booed. (Orton made sure to hold Flair as he slowly fell to the ground.)
The lights flickered as Orton set up for a punt. Orton punted Flair as the lights went out (so they could do this safely). The lights came back on and Flair was down.
McIntyre sprinted down and Orton bailed as soon as he saw him. (Orton’s reaction to seeing McIntyre was pretty funny.)
Officials checked on Flair as McIntyre starred down Orton. The audience chanted for Flair. McIntyre said he would hurt Orton at SummerSlam and called him an evil son-of-a-bitch.
This was a good angle carried by Flair’s excellent performance.
A new concept referred to as the brainchild of Shane McMahon was introduced on last night’s episode of Raw.
Shane introduced Raw Underground on last night’s show, a backstage “fight club” that highlighted Dabba-Kato (NXT’s Babatunde), Erik of The Viking Raiders, Dolph Ziggler, and The Hurt Business. WWE wrote that “Raw Underground will serve as a battleground for WWE’s toughest fighters to prove themselves with few, if any rules “
It was hyped going into last night’s Raw that a new faction would arrive. WWE noted that the group would be out to cause chaos and shake up the organization’s structure. The members of the faction weren’t revealed, but five masked figures were shown setting fire to a generator and were responsible for technical problems and other issues during the show.
In a nod to underground fight clubs, Shane McMahon returned to WWE Raw Monday and introduced a new concept to the show called Raw Underground.
While the reason for its creation was never explained other than it was something McMahon “wanted to see”, it’s simply two men fighting with “no holds barred” in a wrestling ring with no ropes until the fight is stopped which was usually after a few seconds. The ring was surrounded by masked people yelling and banging on the mat. There were also dancing women to help give it atmosphere.
It was positioned as somewhere backstage at the Performance Center with limited access available. McMahon acted as emcee and to implore the referee to stop the fights which featured the same quick camera cuts and shaky movement as in nearly every other WWE match.
There were several “fights”, all of which took place in the final hour:
Dabba-Kato beat up an unnamed man in a few seconds and then beat up another man who jumped in, also within a few seconds. Dabba-Kato is Babatunde Aiyegbusi, a Polish-born, 32-year-old former football player who has been in developmental since April 2016. He has appeared on the main roster once before as a participant in the 2018 Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia.
The second fight featured Erik of the Viking Raiders against another unknown man. There was some bad looking ground and pound, a few suplexes, and a running knee strike that ended the fight quickly.
The final fight featured Dolph Ziggler against another unnamed person, using amateur wrestling to work into a rear naked choke.
After the Ziggler fight, MVP, Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin walked in and MVP said they were the new management of Raw Underground until further notice. Lashley then got in the ring and quickly dispatched a challenger. MVP said he wanted some action and beat up another man they pulled in from ringside.
That led to former Raw announcer and NXT trainee Dio Maddin challenging Benjamin and quickly getting beaten up. The three men then beat up everyone at ringside, leading to McMahon eventually making his way back in and saying the three men were invited back anytime and couldn’t wait to see what happened next week as Raw came to a close.
