Lords of the Network

After watching the fairly underwhelming Draft Smackdown filled with mostly McMahon/GM babble, I decided a day or two later to put on the Draftcenter Network coverage in the background while I worked on other stuff.

I was very pleasantly surprised at how much better it was, from the ESPN style format to all the things missing from the main show: reactions from wrestlers, INTELLIGENT discussions from the panel (Renee/Booker/Lita/Graves) talking about pros & cons of different wrestlers, and a refreshing honesty from my announcers (Booker saying fans hate Roman vs the typical "fan passion" nonsense spin or admitting the Wyatts bombed as singles, for example) that aren’t talking down to the viewer.

This gave me a similar feeling to NXT, where (for the most part) it comes off like it’s run in a different bubble than the idiocy on the main show. Is the Network stuff similar to NXT, where it’s handed off to someone to do with their vision & can exist off of the WWE mold because it’s off Vince’s radar?

​Oh yeah, Vince pays ZERO attention to the Network from everything I’ve read, which is hilarious because it’s supposed to be the thing that’s transforming his business. NXT, the CWC, Edge & Christian…they all just do whatever they want without his oversight. That being said, none of them are particularly successful as TV shows, so there’s something to be said for having the boss produce it as far as money goes. ​