5 Real-life WWE feuds that should be settled on RAW Underground

It is safe to say that WWE’s new RAW Underground concept has divided opinion amongst fans on social media.

In the first two hours of the August 3, 2020 episode of Monday Night RAW, WWE’s cameras showed 7ft 3in Superstar Jordan Omogbehin (aka The Big Ninja) guarding a door in the backstage area.

That door led to a dark warehouse where two competitors battled it out in an MMA-style fight on a ring canvas with no ropes.

The host of RAW Underground, Shane McMahon, watched on as Dabba-Kato (fka Babatunde), Dolph Ziggler and The Viking Raiders’ Erik quickly defeated their opponents. Then, in the final segment, The Hurt Business (Bobby Lashley, MVP and Shelton Benjamin) beat up anybody that moved to stand tall at the end of the show.

Based on social media feedback, some people think Shane McMahon’s RAW Underground concept will only last a couple of weeks, while others have suggested that WWE could use this as an opportunity to blur the lines between fiction and reality.

The competitors are, after all, supposedly having ‘real’ fights, so why not take advantage of that by pairing up two people who have legitimate heat with each other?

In this article, let’s take a closer look at the latter theory by counting down five real-life WWE feuds that we would love to see on RAW Underground.

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#5 WWE RAW Underground: AJ Styles and Paul Heyman

AJ Styles has made it clear over the last few weeks that he has issues with Paul Heyman in real life.

According to “The Phenomenal One”, the former WWE RAW Executive Director was responsible for the releases of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in April 2020. He has also claimed that Heyman “buried” all three members of The O.C. by repeatedly booking them to lose.

"But, he was like, 'Listen, you guys trust me, trust me, trust me, trust me. And if you guys, everything I've done you wrong, you get on social media, and you bury me. You bury me to every social media you could possibly think of.' He said this to us." [via AJ Styles’ Twitch stream]

Regarding WWE RAW Underground, there are obviously a few problems with this match-up. Styles is the Intercontinental Champion on SmackDown, which means he should not be able to appear on RAW (unless the Brand-to-Brand Invitational is still a thing), and then there is the fact that non-wrestler Heyman would get squashed by his opponent in seconds.

Roster assignments do not count for much in modern-day WWE, so it is not unrealistic to think that Styles could show up on RAW. As for Heyman’s lack of fighting experience, does it really matter? RAW Underground is all about sports entertainment and, presumably, TV ratings.

After everything that has been said recently by Styles, this would tick the sports entertainment box and it would definitely bring in the ratings!

#4 WWE RAW Underground: Goldberg and Matt Riddle

This is a no-brainer, isn’t it? Matt Riddle has a fighting background in the UFC, while Goldberg’s menacing WWE persona is about as real as it gets. And, as we’ve seen and heard on multiple occasions, there is a real-life story to be told if the two men ever face off in WWE.

Speaking to Sportskeeda’s Gary Cassidy earlier this year, Riddle discussed Goldberg’s 2020 return to WWE and the short matches that he had with “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman.

“You know, it's unfortunate. It's not that he wasn't a money-making machine in his time, and this and that, and that he's not entertaining. I get it. But, at the end of the day, this is a really hard thing to do. It's hard on your body and there's a reason why, you know, people come and go.”

Riddle also labelled Goldberg a “Botchamania” wrestler in 2017, while he went one step further in 2019 by calling the WWE Hall of Famer “unsafe, dangerous and a liability”.

Would Goldberg ever agree to a RAW Underground match with Riddle? Almost certainly not, but the WWE Universe sure would love to see it.

#3 WWE RAW Underground: Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey

A UFC Hall of Famer and a trailblazer in the sport of MMA, Ronda Rousey is a perfect fit for WWE’s RAW Underground concept.

The former WWE RAW Women’s Champion upset a lot of people with her comments about WWE simply being “fake fighting” – so much so that it was difficult to tell who was legitimately upset with her in real life.

In Nia Jax’s case, she made it perfectly clear earlier in 2020 that she has genuine animosity with Rousey, even before “The Baddest Woman on the Planet” used the dreaded f-word to describe WWE.

Speaking on a Twitch stream with WWE colleague Paige, Jax revealed that she once made a complaint to WWE management about a fellow Superstar who repeatedly hurt Alexa Bliss in matches. Although she did not name the individual, she later confirmed to talkSPORT’s Alex McCarthy that she was talking about Rousey.

When you also take into account Jax’s response to Rousey’s “fake” comment – she said she would “knock her the f*** out”, regardless of WWE’s script – we can safely say that this RAW Underground match would do well in the ratings.

#2 WWE RAW Underground: CM Punk and The Miz

While Matt Riddle and Ronda Rousey put together winning streaks in MMA before making their way to WWE, CM Punk lost both of his UFC fights after he decided to swap the squared circle for the octagon in 2014.

At the start of Punk’s first UFC fight with Mickey Gall in September 2016, the former WWE Champion was on the receiving end of a double-leg takedown, followed by a flurry of punches and a rear-naked choke.

One night later, The Miz and Dolph Ziggler re-enacted that exact sequence at WWE Backlash, with Miz playing the role of Punk and Ziggler playing the role of Gall.

It is unclear if that moment caused Punk to have animosity with The Miz, but “The Best in the World” has let it be known that he does not have a high opinion of his former WWE colleague.

In July 2020, The Miz told the 411 Wrestling Interviews Podcast that he does not know why Punk referred to him as a “f***ing dork” on Twitter.

“I have no idea, to be honest with you. Like, I still to this day have no idea. To be honest, I thought we were friends. And it’s just like one of those things where you’re like, ‘God, man.’ I don’t know. I just don’t know, like I really don’t. I wish I could answer any of the questions that you would have about that, but I honestly — I don’t know. I don’t get it. I don’t get him.”

This RAW Underground match would not bring in as many viewing figures as the next dream fight in this list, but there is certainly a ready-made WWE story to be told between Punk and The Miz.

#1 WWE RAW Underground: CM Punk and Vince McMahon

If CM Punk ever returns to WWE, his first storyline back would have to involve someone who he has genuine heat with.

As fun as it would be to see The Miz in an MMA environment against Punk, Vince McMahon is the dream WWE RAW Underground opponent who would get fans talking the most.

At the age of 74, McMahon proved that he is still capable of getting involved in physical stunts when he jumped from a platform at the WrestleMania 36 tapings to show Rob Gronkowski how he wanted him to win the 24/7 Championship.

The WWE Chairman has also been involved in high-profile matches with Superstars who he has fallen out with in the past (Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart, for example), and that formula would surely prove a success again with Punk.

Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue reported in 2019 that McMahon would “love” to have Punk back in WWE, while he even wanted the former WWE Champion to face Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 36.

“I can report that Vince McMahon himself, who has so far made no comment on the situation, is open to the idea of having CM Punk return to the wrestling ring. Sources tell me that ‘Vince sees the potential to make money’ from CM Punk and ‘has no problem with Punk. He’d love to have him back.’”

Unlikely? Yes, but as WWE has repeatedly shown in 2020, anything can happen in the world of sports entertainment!