RAW Underground continues to show growth and stability

Raw Underground is finally starting to look like something stable, and if this week’s segment didn’t prove that, you’re expecting too much too soon.

This week, The Viking Raiders, Dolph Ziggler, and Nia Jax gave Raw Underground additional depth to their anything goes format. They were great picks for this week’s segment.

Not that I’m a Viking Raiders fan by any means, but to see Erik looking more like he belonged in an MMA contest than in a ring with Viking horns was interesting. This show gave his character great dimensions. He wasn’t holding on to that Viking persona, but putting on a clinic when it came to take downs and grappling. Shortly afterwards, Ziggler found himself facing off against Erik after watching and giving his performance a four out of ten.  Once again, both men put on an equally impressive grappling display, far from the previous weeks of Dabba-Kato dominating the competition. Kato wasn’t on this week’s segment, which is good because it removes the redundancy and keeps the randomness alive.

Riddick Moss returned after last week’s win against Cal Bloom to take on Arturo Ruas. He, like Moss, also had a good outing in last week’s segment. The match however, ended in a weird draw outside the ring. This week also saw glimpses of consistency coming by way of the women’s fights. Along with a Shayna Baszler returning, newcomer Marina Shafir a.k.a. “The Supernova from Moldova” of the NXT brand won her first match. Her celebration was short lived thanks to Nia Jax who attacked her from behind. Baszler wasted no time stepping to Jax only for Jax to blow her off and leave. Overall the tease was good.

This week’s Raw Underground proved to be just as exciting as MNR, and left just enough story to tell for next week’s segment.