‘The Game’ Triple H recently took part in a media call ahead of NXT’s debut on USA Network. One topic of conversation that came up revolved around NXT’s involvement with WWE’s upcoming draft planned for RAW and SmackDown.
Triple H explained how WWE wants to put on the best show possible every week. According to him, he’s interested in NXT putting on the best show “against RAW, against SmackDown, against anybody.”
He added, “I want to compete against ourselves to have the best show that we can. That competition – that’s what leads to the best stuff in the business. From a product standpoint, when you have competition, it makes everything good. So we create our own.”
NXT Draft Involvement
Regarding NXT’s involvement with October’s WWE draft, Triple H doesn’t foresee much NXT involvement.
“I think that right now, the main focus of the draft itself is RAW and SmackDown as October 4th comes along and moves forward. With FOX broadcast taking SmackDown and staying with our partners at USA and NBCU, those become two very competitive landscapes. I’m of the opinion that the NXT brand will continue to grow and I think that down the line, you will see. As much as I will say right now, NXT has grown to where it shouldn’t be referred to as a developmental brand even though we tend to debut newer stars.”
He explained how the draft is more about creating a subsequent brand split between RAW and SmackDown, giving the shows two distinct rosters once again. His goal for the future is to establish three distinct brands that will all have a “different feel and flavor to them” all underneath WWE’s umbrella, stating that there is no up or down progression anymore, just lateral movement between brands.
NXT debuts on USA Network this week on September 18th.
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
