Vince McMahon is up to something. No one is really entirely sure what exactly it might be that he’s up to, but he’s certainly up to something. He has created a new, non-WWE company called Alpha Entertainment, and he’s selling off WWE stock to help fund that company.
Taking into account that the filing for the creation of Alpha Entertainment mentioned the possibility of being involved with professional football, and that company subsequently filing for an XFL trademark, and you have a whoooole lot of people who suddenly believe that a reboot of McMahon’s XFL league is a possibility … perhaps even an inevitability.
There’s no telling what a 2017 version of the XFL could look like, there has arguably never been a period of time that fans have been more turned off by what’s happening over in the NFL, whether it be social commentary or just the absolutely abysmal 2017 season we’ve all had to sit through.
But what if this isn’t about the XFL at all?
Jonathan Coachman, who recently left ESPN following creative disagreements, is a longtime fan and admirer of McMahon, and got to sit under his learning tree for nearly a decade. But when Coachman left WWE for ESPN, he continued to be an ardent defender and champion of WWE and pro wrestling, and especially of Vince McMahon.
Coachman recently gave his take on the situation to TMZ Sports, and for his part (coming as someone who has extensive connections in the pro wrestling and sports worlds, and who knows McMahon personally), he believes it’s more likely that McMahon would actually purchase an NFL franchise, rather than reboot the XFL.
Specifically, Coachman thinks McMahon might make a play for the Carolina Panthers, a team that is currently on the market after its owner was accused of serial sexual harassment.
“He’s a billionaire, he could come up with the funds, and he’s also at the age where other owners would respect that. Whatever this is, they’re gonna do it the right way.”
If McMahon is actually pursuing the Panthers, he would face some stiff competition. There is no shortage of billionaires who don’t yet own an NFL team and would like to, and an ownership group including P. Diddy and Steph Curry is sniffing around the action.
If it ends up being the case that Alpha Entertainment was formed in pursuit of the Panthers, this XFL trademark stuff is one hell of a smokescreen. Things are going to get a lot more interesting before this is all said and done.
