Vince McMahon Eyeing a Reboot of the XFL
For Vince McMahon, it's near tradition to make amends with a broken relationship or resuscitate a [...]
For Vince McMahon, it's near tradition to make amends with a broken relationship or resuscitate a flawed project. And the WWE boss may be ready to revive one of his most ambitious enterprises to date - the XFL.
Brad Shepard from Twitter reported that not only is McMahon humoring the idea of bringing back the XFL, but may announce it merely a few weeks' time.
EXCLUSIVE: Vince McMahon is looking to bring back the XFL and may announce it on January 25th, 2018.
— Brad Shepard 🤘🏻 (@TheBradShepard) December 16, 2017
Needless to say, this notion sizzled on the internet and more media outlets began to dig in on the possibility of the XFL 2.0. Momentum became official when a WWE entity reached out to Deadspin to release a statement.
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
Worth noting that the Alpha Entertainment statement came in response to me asking WWE to "confirm or deny" the XFL relaunch rumor.
— David Bixenspan (@davidbix) December 16, 2017
Even more, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio has stated that McMahon has been "trademarking the XFL name" in recent months.
The XFL has been effectively dead since 2001, the same year it was created. Outside of being on the butt end of some snarky jokes, the defunct football league has been off of the radar since it closed its doors. However, the tale of Vince McMahon's failed football league got a jolt of life when ESPN released a highly acclaimed 30 for 30 documentary on the subject in early 2017.
With McMahon's "Alpha Entertainment" being totally independent of WWE combined with its sole intentions being to "explore investment opportunities" it sounds like this may be more than just a rumor.
We will keep you updated on the development of this story. Given that there may be a loose deadline for January 25, there will likely be subsequent reports to follow.