Vince’s Failed Football League Profiled

Vince McMahon’s pioneering (but failed) football league – the XFL – is being profiled on ESPN’s 30 for 30 next year:

Documentary, directed by Charlie Ebersol and featuring Dick Ebersol and Vince McMahon, to debut on February 2 at 9 p.m. ET; World Premiere to Take Place at DOC NYC Tomorrow

Three days before Super Bowl LI, ESPN Films will premiere the 30 for 30 documentary “This Was the XFL,” directed by Charlie Ebersol, chronicling the short-lived, ill-fated pro football league. The documentary, airing on February 2 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN, tells the story in fascinating, candid, and often rollicking fashion featuring fellow television legends and close friends – Dick Ebersol and Vince McMahon.

A bold challenge, a fearless experiment and ultimately, a spectacular failure. In 2001, sports entertainment titans Ebersol and McMahon launched the XFL. It was hardly the first time a league had tried to compete with the NFL, but the brash audacity of the bid, combined with the personalities and charisma of Ebersol and McMahon and the marketing behemoths of their respective companies — NBC and WWE — captured headlines and a sense of undeniable anticipation about what was to come.

Bringing together a cast of characters ranging from the boardrooms of General Electric to the practice fields of Las Vegas, “This Was the XFL” is the tale of — yes — all that went wrong, but also, how the XFL ended up influencing the way professional team sports are broadcast today. And at the center of it all – a decades long friendship between one of the most significant television executives in media history and the one-of-a-kind WWE impresario. This film will explore how Ebersol and McMahon brought the XFL to life, and why they had to let it go.

“I grew up on the sidelines watching my father and Vince enjoy incredible success with just about everything they touched, and then, along came the XFL,” said director Charlie Ebersol. “I saw them take bold creative risks, face unparalleled success and failure with dignity, but most importantly they maintained and celebrated a friendship where most would have cut and run. I learned more about integrity and character in those 18 months than just about any other time in my life, so when ESPN Films asked if I wanted to tell the story of the XFL, I jumped at the opportunity because I knew that the real story was that of an unbreakable friendship.”

John Dahl, Vice President and Executive Producer, ESPN Films said: “We felt that the colorful personalities and storylines featured throughout the rise and fall of the XFL deserved a more detailed examination, and as Dick Ebersol’s son, Charlie provided a personal understanding of it all. The XFL was a gamble, and even though the league didn’t ultimately succeed, we think audiences will really enjoy this tale of risk and ambition.”

“This Was the XFL” will have its world premiere tomorrow at the DOC NYC film festival in Manhattan.

Booker T Hosting WrestleMania Event

WWE Hall of Famer Booker T and Renee Young will be hosting a special WrestleMania 33 On-Sale Party at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando next Thursday:

One night before WrestleMania tickets go on sale to the general public, WWE Universe members in the Orlando area will be able to score tickets to the biggest event of the year at the official WrestleMania On-Sale Party!

Join Superstars in Downtown Orlando at the Seneff Plaza at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, Nov. 17, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET. Featuring Superstar autograph signings, live matches and much more, the party is free and open to the public. Doors open at 5 p.m. Visit OrlandoWrestlemania.com to register to attend the WrestleMania On-Sale Party.

WWE Superstars Cesaro, Big Cass, Titus O’Neil, Neville, Alexa Bliss and Carmella will all be signing autographs, plus there will be appearances by Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T and Renee Young as The Road to WrestleMania gets underway in Orlando.

Not only that, but the evening’s live matches include a main event between the winner of the inaugural Cruiserweight Classic, TJ Perkins, and NXT Superstar Andrade “Cien” Almas.

Don’t miss your chance to get WrestleMania tickets early, meet Superstars and witness an awesome night of action inside the ring!

RKO Outta Nowhere Trailer

Tatanka In Hall of Fame?

Tatanka was asked about a potential WWE Hall of Fame induction in a recent interview with the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling:

“I think with most guys they don’t wake up every day and say I hope I am in the Hall of Fame but what you do think and being with a company such as WWE and knowing what the success that you’ve had with them in that company and the success that you are continually having with that company than you know that being involved with anything WWE is good for you. Do we always think it would be great to be in the Hall of Fame? Of course we do because it is just another notch in the success of what you have done with that company and again it just puts you in more as a solid foundation and part of the WWE history and when that happens to you it is a great thing. A lot of the Hall of Famers that are already Hall of Famers are out there busy every single week, a lot of them have businesses and their businesses are starting to thrive and be successful away from wrestling and some people are still involved with certain aspects of wrestling like with their own training camps. It’s a good thing of course to be in the Hall of Fame and I don’t think every guy wakes up every day and says I hope I am in the Hall of Fame but I think we all realize to be in the WWE Hall of Fame is a great honor and you being part of the biggest sports-entertainment company of any company worldwide and saying what they did during this time is worthy of being recognized as a Hall of Fame career.”