A WWE spokesperson issued the attached statement to me & @Deadspin in response to my inquiry about tonight's rumors of a soon to be announced XFL revival. They declined further comment. Whatever Vince McMahon's "Alpha Entertainment" is, it's self-funded & separate from WWE. pic.twitter.com/oT0Oxyi2fV
— David Bixenspan (@davidbix) December 16, 2017
Yes, this could be nothing. But it could also be not nothing. Of course speculation abounds that McMahon will be reviving the short-lived XFL. That would make for an…interesting decision. I would be curious to see what the points of emphasis would be this time around. Embracing the inherent violent nature of football was something that the XFL prided itself on the first time around. I can’t see that being too popular these days. And who can forget the strong focus on the cheerleaders? Can’t imagine that going over too well these days. Nevertheless I’m still really intrigued by the idea. Depending who you ask, the NFL is at all-time low levels of popularity. This could be as good a time as any for a new league to pop up and try to siphon off some of the waning NFL fan base. But still, you know anything Vince McMahon is involved with is going to be way over the top and I’m just not sure it would fit with a football league, or any other real, non-scripted professional sports league. But on the bright side, anything that brings Johnny Manziel back to football is a-okay with me.
While we let the speculation run rampant, let’s take a look back at some of what made the XFL…great?
The opening scramble in place of the coin toss.
Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura.
The xtreme intro music
And possibly the league’s most iconic moment, QB Jeff Brohm coming back to play just one week after being on the receiving end of an absolutely vicious hit.
Okay so maybe these just ended up being arguments against the XFL coming back. But can we all agree that at least the ball they used was and still is awesome?
