– Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com is reporting that RAW Underground is considered to be finished for the time being. The concept was initially stopped because of the Covid-19 outbreak within NXT and the Performance Center but most of those talents have now returned to work. Meltzer noted that “the idea is to keep NXT talent away from RAW and Smackdown talent as much as possible.” Dabba-Kato and Arturo Ruas being officially drafted to RAW would indicate that the Underground concept is dead.
– In previous years, WWE RAW would tend to get the top picks in the Drafts and Superstar Shakeups. For this year, several top acts were drafted to Smackdown because WWE wants to keep the brand as strong as possible and avoid further declines in television viewership. The belief is that FOX doesn’t need Smackdown and a source in WWE told Dave Meltzer that the USA Network/WWE deal is considered to be a “lock” since USA would “collapse” in the ratings without RAW.
