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Eric Bischoff Weighs In on Raw Underground, Says He Likes the Concept & WWE Shouldn’t Overproduce It

August 13, 2020 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Raw Underground Shane McMahon Image Credit: WWE

On the latest episode of After 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff weighed in on the concept of Raw Underground, what he likes about it and what WWE’s big risk is regarding it. The segments have been controversial among WWE fans, to say the least, but Bischoff explained why he likes it and talked about what the big risk is that WWE has with it in terms of potentially overproducing it.

Bischoff noted that he had seen clips of it, saying that he can’t watch the full show these days without fans in attendance, but said that he likes the grittier aspect of it. Highlights from the discussion and the full video are below:

On the concept of Raw Underground: “No, I saw clips of it … I don’t know if it was on this show, or another interview I did, or something else. But somehow the subject came up months ago when the COVID thing first started happening. Somebody asked me my opinion of AEW and Raw. And I made the comment that if it were me at Raw, if it was my shot to call. I would have made Raw look more like Fight Club, and less like a glitzy arena with no people in it. And I’ve said consistently to back that up that WWE is too freaking glossy. It’s too perfect. It’s too pretty. It’s like getting dressed up in a tuxedo to go to Burger King. It just…doesn’t fit, it doesn’t feel right. And I used the reference, I would have made it more like Fight Club and less — in fact, my exact quote was I think, I’m pretty sure, ‘I would make it look more like Fight Club and less like Disney on Ice.’ It needs to feel gritty.

“And I’m not suggesting the WWE listens to this show and takes notes on my commentary and steals all my ideas. That’s silliness, and I don’t want anybody to think I’m trying to infer, imply, or otherwise mislead people into thinking that’s possibly true. I don’t. But I did say it first. [laughs] I’m just kidding.”

On what he thinks of how it’s been executed: “I kinda dig it. I think it has potential. I think the risk in WWE is that they’ll make it look too glossy eventually, and too cheesy, and they’ll add too many production values to it. It’ll lose — it kind of had that gritty feel. They gotta work it out a little bit. I know there was some production issues, I think that’s great. Now I know I’m watching live TV. Because if it was taped, they would have fixed it and reshot it. I’m cool with a production glitch. I don’t care if a light falls off the rig. I don’t care if somebody trips over a stair or runs out and slides under the ring by accident. I don’t mind that kind of stuff happening, because it makes you realize, ‘Wow, anything can happen.’ Even silly s**t can happen, and it’s sometimes fun. So I like what they’re doing. I think the concept is a good concept. I hope, if you’re listening Bruce, don’t overproduce it!”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit After 83 Weeks with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.