Last month brought the surprising announcement that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had secured funding with his partners to buy the XFL, the failed football league founded by WWE CEO/chairman Vince McMahon. Johnson teamed with Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital to buy the league hours before it was set to go up for auction. In a new post on Instagram, Johnson wrote about his intentions for the XFL and even teased that he might suit up and join one of the teams for a game. For those unaware, before his wrestling career Johnson played defensive tackled for the University of Miami and was briefly contracted with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.
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“Sweatin’ in paradise with my new XFL belt and extra motivation,” Johnson wrote. “XFL is much more than a big business acquisition – it represents an idea. The idea of opportunity. As an owner of the XFL, that’s my priority – create opportunities for players to live out their dreams, feed their families and ball out – XFL style. I was a good football player with great ‘upper body violence’ as my coach, Ed Orgeron loved to call it, so maybe I’ll be the first owner in pro football history to actually suit up and play in the game. No doubt, I’ll get my ass whupped but at least I’m goin’ out on my shied – XFL style.”
He continued, “What a wild, unpredictable journey life can be and I got nothing but excitement and gratitude to create these opportunities for other players and people. @danygarciaco and ownership let’s roll.”
The XFL originally debuted in 2001 and played just one season before shutting down. Its status as a rougher and rowdier answer to the NFL, and abrupt failure, saw it become the subject of an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, “This Was the XFL,” in 2017. Within that documentary, McMahon pondered the idea of reviving the league, which he did in 2020.
The revived league attracted talent from around the football world including former University of Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops and former Ohio State Univeristy Quarterback Cardale Jones among others. The eight teams in the league only played for five weeks at the start of 2020 and were forced to stop as the coronavirus pandemic began to spread with ferocity in the United States. The stoppage of play forced the XFL to file for bankruptcy, resulting in the eventual sale to Johnson and co.
