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If you're an American Football fan (henceforth to be called just "football" as that's just easier to type) and around in the sci-fi year of 2001, you probably remember the ill-fated original incarnation of Vince McMahon's XFL. Rushed into existence way too soon after being announced, McMahon's football league started off strong, but eventually busted out - some games even drawing some of the lowest TV ratings in history.
Nearly 20 years later, the XFL is back and this time... well, this time it's a lot better. All four games this past weekend were actually really well played and, this time, there was no WWE connection to be found (other than an interview with a player thanking Vince McMahon for the opportunity to play professional football). While not the reason the league failed the first time (the horrible quality of play was the culprit there), its association with McMahon's other business worked against it.
Which is weird because WWE/F was the hottest thing on TV at the time. Eh, anyway...
That doesn't mean we won't see some sort of interaction between the two companies now (McMahon actually formed a company, Alpha Entertainment, completely separate from WWE to found the league) - especially considering WWE's partnership with Fox, who air both SmackDown and XFL games.
So, here are five ways the two promotions could actually do a crossover promotion - without going overboard into original XFL territory.
#5 WWE Superstars making appearances on sidelines/announce booth
During the Dallas Renegades/St. Louis Battlehawks game this past Saturday (the second ever game of the new XFL), former NFL player/current NXT pre-show host/also current XFL announcer Pat MacAfee had himself a very interesting interview on the sidelines during the game. That interview with with NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback Troy Aikman - who actually had a lot of positive things to say about the upstart football company.
It should be noted that Aikman is an announcer for Fox's NFL games - so he doesn't work for NFL, he works for Fox. You know what other company has a pretty solid relationship with the Fox Network? Right. WWE. (That's who you said, right? I can't hear you from here)
In the lead-up to SmackDown's debut on Fox, many WWE Superstars made appearances on Fox sports broadcasts - such as during a St. Louis Cardinals/Chicago Cubs game where Braun Strowman joined the announce team for half an inning.
There's no reason that Fox can't have WWE stars do the same thing during XFL games, without overemphasizing the WWE connection. There's plenty of WWE stars with pro football experience - Roman Reigns, Baron Corbin, etc. - that would make for interesting guests. They could certainly play it up as trying to promote SmackDown to the XFL audience - Fox has certainly been promoting the show outside of these football games.
#4 Get some of the lesser-known WWE announcers to work on XFL games
If you watched the ESPN "30 for 30" documentary on the original XFL - or if you just watched the league games at the time - you probably have a good idea of the announce teams for the weekly games. Jerry Lawler, Jesse Ventura, and Jim Ross - all WWF associated figured - were part of the crew calling the action, along with Matt Vasgergian (best known for his MLB work for ESPN) and Mike Adamle, a former NFL player, American Gladiators host, as well as a WWE personality for a number of years.
During the first four games of the XFL's opening weekend, both Fox and ABC/ESPN's broadcast team were made up of strictly professionals unassociated (with one exception) with WWE - which makes sense. This new XFL is a lot more humble and wants to appear more legit than they used to. The league's most bombastic announce team member is Pat MacAfee, who is also involved in WWE's NXT brand. Oh, and also, he's awesome.
WWE also has a number of broadcast team members that really aren't that busy that could add something to these XFL broadcasts. Yes, I understand that the league itself is run by Alpha Entertainment and not WWE itself - and the broadcast teams for the games are decided by the networks they're run on. But, WWE has a LOT of great broadcasters that they simply don't have room for on their wrestling programming - WWE Network and otherwise - and letting them work for Alpha Entertainment, as well, would give them a lot more to do.
#3 Some floundering WWE stars might have a second option
It's no secret that a lot of NFL prospects - or former players - have gone on to become major pro-wrestling stars. Figures such as Ron Simmons, Ernie Ladd, Brian Pillman, and others had all found some level of success of the gridiron before moving to the Squared Circle. While some former football players moved on to wrestling after they were done with the sport, others have moved on to sports entertainment because - for one reason or another - that football career just didn't work out.
Take a look at the WWE and NXT rosters right now. Without even looking, you have to expect there's a good handful of talent there that, for whatever reason, went the pro wrestling route because their football options dried up. That's just what happens.
Now, what if there's someone on any of those WWE rosters that just isn't connecting with the WWE Universe, and still have that burning desire to hit the football field? Trying out for the XFL after working for WWE for a bit - that story isn't exploitative, that's interesting.
I'm not suggesting that WWE should try to fill the XFL rosters with WWE rejects, but there's also no reason to not only let anyone on the WWE payroll to try out for an XFL team but to also play up that WWE connection. That's a fun story.
#2 Halftime Heat/Championship Game Watch-along
In 1999, during half-time of NFL's Super Bowl XXXIII, WWF aired a short but exciting World Championship match between then-champion The Rock and challenger Mankind. Mick Foley's alter-ego defeated Dwayne Johnson - with a forklift of all things - in a Falls-Count-Anywhere match in an empty Tuscon Convention Center to win the title.
I couldn't even begin to tell you who was performing at the Super Bowl half-time show that year. ABBA, maybe? Was Smash Mouth a thing back then? Doesn't matter.
The XFL is going to have its own championship game by the end of its season. That much is a given. That game is, more than likely, going to have a Half-time Show - and they're going to try and get some impressive - or, at least, as impressive as they're able to arrange - performers. It would be kind of fun if they got Elias to come out and act like he's the entertainment, before having... I dunno... MGK or Flo Rida or whoever they manage to get have him "thrown out".
Even if they don't go that route, having some WWE stars do a watch-along on the WWE YouTube channel, much like they do for WWE PPVs, for the championship game, could be fun to see, as well.
#1 It shouldn't
Not really what you were expecting, was it?
As much as the terrible quality of play on the field, as well as the TV production SNAFUs that happened during the original XFL's first couple of weeks, led to the league crashing and burning after one season, those aren't the only reasons.
A big part of it was its association with the then-WWF. By the time the XFL was launched, it was pretty widely understood that professional wrestling was scripted entertainment and a show as opposed to an actual sporting competition. And, frankly, other than people who either a) had a problem with the risque content WWE was putting out at the time or b) just liked to say "you know it's fake, right?" because they're hollow, empty people, nobody cared.
Football, on the other hand, was a different story. The WWF may have been accepted as a form of entertainment, but when the guy who runs a form of entertainment that pretends to be an actual competition (again, as part of the show, not as a ruse) starts a legitimate football league, there's going to be a lot of skepticism.
The current XFL is actually doing everything right. They took the time to develop the league and let the eight teams get organized and train (as opposed to the rushed off-season of the original league). They're not making any illusions that they're currently at the same level of play as the NFL - which is smart. They're not trashing their own product , they're just being realistic. This past weekend was a great start - the games were a lot of fun to watch.
WWE has also become even more mainstream since the days of the original XFL. It's certainly more family friendly, and it's also produced a number of high respected Hollywood movie stars - The Rock, Batista, and John Cena. So, being associated with WWE isn't really the hindrance it used to be.
Here's the thing, though - the XFL has proven during this first week of games that it doesn't need the WWE connection to entertain people. Yes, some people are tuning in because they're WWE fans. But, a lot are tuning in because they want to watch football during the NFL offseason and don't really care about wrestling.
And there's nothing wrong with that. XFL needs to - and I believe they can - succeed on their own merits without a WWE association. Their main goal should be to create such a great American Football product that WWE benefits from appearing on XFL programming and not the other way around.
But, what do you guys think? Did you enjoy the first four XFL games? How do you think the league will do? Let us know in the comments below
