In 2001, Vince McMahon launched the XFL. Some of the innovations the league used were later co-opted by the NFL and its media partners, so some good came out of that short-lived venture. As I've noted in the past, the XFL largely failed because of media bias generated by the real life J. Jonah Jameson, Phil Mushnick, as well as McMahon using some of his WWE talent (i.e. Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, the Rock, APA, et al) to promote the league.
That ain't gonna happen this time, McMahon said today in a press conference. The league's relaunch won't happen for another 2 years, with an eye toward late January-early February 2020. By that time, McMahon will be 74, and will probably have forgotten and been reminded of today's proclamations several times over. He intends to make this XFL a more family friendly league, one for the PG era.
Something tells me, though, that this will still bite him on his tuchis, because even though the lead time is longer this time, Mushnick is still around to badmouth McMahon and warn that he's not to be trusted. Mushnick, however, shouldn't be trusted, either, because of his continuing bias against WWE and the ever-changing face of major sports because of television dictating just about everything.
With rumors that WWE would bolt for Fox in 2019, making that network a cushy home for XFL 2.0, if I'm an executive at NBC-Universal-Comcast, I'd make that sweetheart deal too tempting for McMahon to turn down in the here and now, and close the deal before Wrestlemania this year. Otherwise, USA's looking like a lame duck again next year.
Of course, I could be wrong.
