Raw Underground: Aleister Black vs Kevin Owens went too long

The biggest push on this week’s Raw Underground was Aleister Black facing Kevin Owens, and it went on longer than needed.

The beef between the two men has been building for weeks since Black was on the KO Show. With the feud spilling over into Raw Underground it was a storyline that didn’t have a place on Monday Night Raw, but fit perfectly on Raw Underground. Why? Owens didn’t injure Black, Buddy Murphy did. So Black, in a fit of rage, attacks Owens for some odd reason. Result? Put it in the Underground and kill it.

Just as the two were starting their match Raw cut to commercial, killing its momentum immediately.  After all the commercial breaks and cutaways, the match ends with Dabba-Kato destroying both Black and Owens. This was fitting, considering that Kato is a featured competitor on Raw Underground. Having Raw talent featured takes away from the randomness and surprises we’ve grown to love about the segment.

WWE can get more out of Raw Underground

WWE sees Raw Underground as a way to keep ratings high in the third hour. Has it worked? Last week, Hour 3 brought in 1.703 million viewers, 0.53 in the 18-49 demo according to Fightful’s Carlos Toro. Raw in August averaged around two million viewers a week. Is this important? Nope. 2020 is a year for low numbers considering the circumstances. So why not show more Raw Underground? It can be more than a hook to keep viewer’s interested.  We need more of this rather than another Mysterio/Murphy/Rollins match to close out the show. I said, what I said.

It’s also helping storylines on Raw make sense, so why muddy it up with an extended match? WWE logic at work again.  For Raw talent, it serves as a weird Purgatory, yet it makes sense. For example, when the IICONICS officially broke up after their loss to the Riott Squad last week, they showed up on the Underground. It happens – just ask The Hurt Business.

It was odd until Peyton Royce pushed former tag team member Bille Kay onto the mat which led to a Jessamyn Duke knock out. Then you’re like oh, I see where this is going. Fast forward to Monday Night and the two squared off officially as singles competitors, with Royce getting the win.  So why change the flow of action this week? Who  knows. All I know is this week cannot happen again.