Ken Shamrock Gives His Opinion On RAW Underground
Ken Shamrock was a recent guest on The Dropkick podcast and shared his thoughts on RAW Underground. Shamrock offered up his praise for the product and said he likes that WWE is trying a new approach to make it look more real.
"I'll tell you, the underground," Shamrock began, "I like the concept. When you think about what I said earlier about the Pancrase organization – what we wanted to find out is what wrestling would look like if it was real, and that's what you have in the Pancrase organization where I fought over there. That's what it looks like when you take wrestling and you turn it into a real fight, and it's sharp. We had all kinds of champions coming out of Pancrase into the UFC and they were winning championships there, so the talent was there.
"It's funny how you look at that and think to yourself, you know, the thoughts that these wrestling fans have as far as what is real and isn't real is very minor when it comes to pro wrestling," Shamrock added. "When you think about what WWE is doing with [RAW] Underground, they're going, 'Hey, let's find out what it's like if we can start doing these predetermined outcomes, but yet let's make it more physical and let's make it more real.' They're gonna find out the same thing we did over in Japan: that it's much more exciting when you're watching a movie that you can't tell whether it's real or it's not real."
Shamrock was later asked whether or not he's been considering retirement given he is 56-years old and he said he plans to keep going as long as he's improving. He also revealed he doesn't want to hinder himself or his performance by allowing thoughts of retirement to slow him down.
"That's where I think that's the first drop-off," Shamrock questioned. "It's when you start thinking about it, because that's what happened with Daniel Cormier. There's no doubt in mind that if DC goes into that fight with no retirement in his mind – and I know he'll disagree and I know a lot of fans will too, but he doesn't lose that fight. I don't think he loses that fight, but I just believe that there's something that goes off in your head when you see the finish line. It's not the same thing as if you're in the race and you sprint for it. It's different because I think you ease up because you're not looking to finish for a trophy, you're not looking to cross that for a trophy or for the next step.
"You're looking to cross that line to slow down," Shamrock added. "Just slow down in life, and I think when that starts to come into your mind and you start thinking about it, and you make an announcement before you actually fight, you've basically, I think, handcuffed yourself because now you're telling the other guy you're not getting a rematch. So, I'm just going and I'm gonna give it all because I ain't gonna let him do a walk off here and be the heel of it, and so you're throwing gasoline onto a fire now, saying, 'I'm gonna beat you, and I'm gonna walk off and leave you holding all the regret,' and that adds fuel to him. And in your own mind, you're saying, 'Well, I'm done.' I thought when you start thinking – and people keep bringing up to me all the time. 'What do you think that is?' It's like, I have no idea. I don't, and when that happens, I'll know it and that's the time when everybody else will. I don't know. So, right now, every day I'm going to get better; I'm going to improve until I can't."