Like many of you, I was surprised that Vince McMahon brought back the XFL. Sure, the only thing that the new league shares with the old league is the name, but it's still a shocking move. Wrestling fans know how stubborn Vince is and how hard it is for him to accept defeat. The ending of his 2001 league probably eats at him to this day since it was such an spectacular failure, it folded after one season. Sure, it's far more fondly remembered than other failed leagues since then like the UFL, FXFL and AAF, but for a league with all that buzz to fall flat like that must have been embarrassing to him.So Vinnie Mac runs it back and the XFL returns Jack.
Speaking of being nothing like the old league, Commissioner Oliver Luck said there won't be any gimmicks this time around. So no fight for the football to start the game, no cheerleader interviews, and sadly, no nicknames on jerseys.
I don't know how long the TV contracts are, but they're far better than your typical alternative league. Usually leagues get stuck with one game on one network with online streaming of the other games. But the XFL can be view every week on FOX/FS1/2 and ABC/ESPN/2 as well as online streaming. Of course, they only got that good of a deal because the networks aren't paying for it but hey, at least the XFL is on broadcast TV instead of NBCSN and Bleacher Report. It also seems that Vince learned his lesson from the past league and actually gave players a proper training camp. So with all this info, I give them three years. As long as they stay as an alternative instead of trying to compete with the NFL/become a minor league, they should do fine. It's not like there's competition anyway. NFL season is over, NBA regular season is boring, MLB haven't started yet, and NHL is irrelevant. So other than paid programming, old movies and variety shows, there's nothing to air on weekends so why not show XFL games for free?
THE GAMES
SEATTLE DRAGONS 21
DC DEFENDERS 14
Since there's a good chance I only remember one or two players from both rosters, my predictions will be based on guys I remember. I remember Dragons QB B.J. Daniels and coach Jim Zorn, so I give them the edge here.
LA WILDCATS 24
HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS 21
Wildcats QB Josh Johnson won't need Madden to remember his teammates names when beating Connor Cook and the Roughnecks.
TAMPA BAY VIPERS 14
NY GUARDIANS 7
Marc Trestman was good as a CFL coach, but awful as a NFL coach. Maybe low expectations will benefit him as Vipers coach in the XFL.
ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS 24
DALLAS RENEGADES 28
I was wondering what happened to Athletic Punter Marquette King? He was a big name on the Raiders then POOF he's gone! Well now he's on the Battlehawks of the XFL. I don't think that will be enough to beat Bob Stoops' Renegades, even if his QB is Landry Jones.
Well, those are my predictions, let's see how XFL 2.0 will fare out.
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