If you’re old enough to remember the XFL, you’re probably aware that it didn’t go so well. Low TV ratings and bad publicity forced WWE CEO Vince McMahon to end his professional football venture in 2001 after just one season.
Well, brace yourselves, because it looks like the XFL could make a comeback.
Twitter user/Nation One News writer Brad Shepard reported Friday night that McMahon wants to revive the XFL, and could announce it in January.
Now, nothing against Shepard, but we don’t much about him, and his Twitter followers — as of Saturday afternoon — number in the low thousands. However, Shepard’s report apparently piqued the interest of Deadspin freelancer David Bixenspan, who did some digging.
Alpha Entertainment, of course, could be anything. But it’s hard to look at this information and not draw a line to a football field.
And say what you want about McMahon, the WWE and the prospect of football league potentially even more dangerous than the NFL, but the return of the XFL would be fascinating, if nothing else.
Let’s wind back the clocks and look at the XFL’s infamous debut in Las Vegas:
For better or for worse, that was all sorts of entertaining.
Given the current state of the NFL, you could look at a potential XFL return in multiple ways.
Considering the falling TV ratings and the public-relations nightmares that have plagued the NFL the last two seasons, now might be the perfect time for McMahon to pounce on a divided fan base. However, television’s murky future probably should give McMahon pause before he thrusts himself into another entertainment project.
