WWE used real strippers as dancers on its shoot fighting show, Raw Underground.
Through the years, WWE has introduced many out-of-the-box ideas like Brawl for All, which started well but eventually failed due to poor execution. Another best example of an idea that was in effect in the recent past but was later nixed was “Raw Underground”.
The show was held at an undisclosed location and was organized by Shane Mcmahon. The Raw Underground segment was much like the Brawl for All tournament held in 1998, except the latter was real shootfighting.
Raw Underground was more like a fight club where wrestlers would battle for bragging rights in a shoot-style fighting contest. The Raw Underground featured wrestlers like Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, The Hurt Business, and many other budding stars.
The show got a great reaction and response from the fans. However, WWE pulled the plug on the show due to the Covid 19 breakout. Moreover, Vince didn’t want to mix the superstars from SmackDown and NXT with the Raw roster.
As per TalkSport, Shane McMahon was the brainchild behind the idea and it was introduced to improve the rating of the floundering flagship show, Monday Night Raw.
After nearly two months, the idea was eventually dropped and forgotten. The interesting thing about Raw Underground was that many emerging superstars like Omos, Dabba-Kato, and Arturo Ruas got exposure to the business.
WWE used real strippers for Raw Underground segments
WWE giant Omos was first seen during the Raw Underground segments working as a bouncer. The Nigerian superstar recently appeared on “Say Less With Kaz, Lowkey, and Rosy” and gave his thoughts on the expired show. While Omos admitted that “Raw Underground was a lot of fun”, he was also taken aback when he learned that they had real strippers as dancers.
“[It was like] Bloodsport. … I first thought they were just actors, but they were like, ‘No, these are literally just strippers.’ And I’m like, ‘Woah.’” Omos added, “It was a lot of fun because, at first, I was very quiet, and then as we progressed, Shane was just like, ‘Get good at promos and stuff that people say to you.’ He was like, ‘You know what? I’m just going to spitball, and you spitball back to me.’ It became interactive, and I think that kind of helped me go forward.”
The 7 foot 3 Nigerian giant made his main roster debut in October 2020 as AJ Styles’s “personal colossus”. AJ and Omos won their first-ever Raw tag team championship as a team at WrestleMania 37.
