There’s been a lot of talk and rumors surrounding Vince McMahon rebooting the XFL in the coming months. However, could this XFL revival story really just be an elaborate smoke screen for McMahon doing something entirely fresh – buying an NFL franchise?
One person who thinks so is former long-time WWE employee Jonathan Coachman. Coachman left WWE several years back for a prominent on air job with ESPN. However, Coachman left ESPN recently due to creative differences. That said, Coachman has continued to be a voice in the wrestling industry, whether it was as a wrestling defender at ESPN or on his Twitter account.
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Rather than a reboot of the XFL, Coachman thinks that his former boss is more likely to make a play at purchasing the recently made available Carolina Panthers NFL franchise.
Coachman could very much be on to something here. McMahon has always craved major success outside of the wrestling business. Look no further than past attempts at a bodybuilding federation, theme restaurants, a Las Vegas hotel, films, boxing promotion, and of course the XFL. As McMahon enters the latter stage of his life, becoming an owner of an NFL franchise would certainly give McMahon that highly sought after success outside of professional wrestling.
“He’s a billionaire, he could come up with the funds, and he’s also at the age where other owners would respect that. Whatever this is, they’re gonna do it the right way,” Coachman told TMZ Sports.
There’s certainly a lot of smoke in the direction of an XFL reboot. Trademarks have been filed, McMahon has sold off stock to raise funds, and he has formed Alpha Entertainment (a non-WWE investment entity). However, the sale of the Carolina Panthers promises to come with a lot of competition, and McMahon rebooting one of his most notorious financial failures (the XFL) could certainly just be a well orchestrated distraction as he really tries to front of group of investors to purchase the Panthers.
If McMahon were to pull off ownership of an NFL franchise, while also fooling everyone into thinking he was going to restart the XFL, it would be the ultimate swerve. Plus, the possibility of McMahon owning an NFL franchise is one with a lot of potential. Just imagine the crossover opportunities: charismatic Cam Newton would be perfect in front of WWE cameras.
