The rumors had been swirling for a few months, but today at 3pm those rumors will become reality when Vince McMahon officially announces the return of the XFL.
Launched by the head of the WWE in 1999, the XFL was to be the anti-NFL. Loud players, big celebrations, up close cameras, big personalities and more. While the league fizzled out after one season, it did give fans some memorable moments and images, none bigger than Rod Smart aka “He Hate Me.”
Rod Smart AKA He “Hate Me Promo”
An XFL game look at Rod Smart’s “He Hate Me” moniker.
This time around, the XFL will not be run by the WWE. Instead, McMahon sold 3.34 million shares of WWE stock (approximately $100 million) to launch Alpha Entertainment, which is independent of WWE and which will run the league. It also acquired all of the XFL trademarks, which we given up by WWE over a decade ago.
Said WWE in a statement back on December 16th, 2017: “Vince McMahon has established and is personally funding a separate entity from WWE, Alpha Entertainment, to explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football. Mr. McMahon has nothing further to announce at this time.”
The XFL faces an environment vastly different than the one they played in back in 2001, its only season in existence. Concerns over CTE, player protests over social injustice, cord cutting and other issues present obstacles for the league to tackle; but McMahon always seems to find a way to either navigate around them or simply smash through them, Stone Cold Stunner style.
The Shadow League on Twitter
Stone Cold just gave Vince McMahon the stunner. #RAW25 https://t.co/BszYHKQHkz
