Tag: Vince McMahon

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson group purchases the XFL for 15M

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his business partners have purchased the XFL for $15 million.

Guessing it doesn’t matter to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson that the XFL has been a twice-failed experiment under his former boss, WWE kingpin Vince McMahon.

The former WWE champion, actor and mogul and his business partners have been revealed as the group to acquire the spring football league that went bankrupt due to the coronavirus pandemic after five weeks of play in 2020 during its second incarnation.

Garcia is Johnson’s business partner and first wife.

Prior to his run in WWE, Johnson played college ball at Miami and had a stint in the CFL. He became a mega-star after joining the Stamford, Ct,-based company.

His boss, McMahon, tried to make spring football a go in 2001. The league had big ratings after one week and then became a laughingstock.

The reincarnation produced a better brand of football, innovations — like a unique kickoff — and started with solid TV ratings for FOX and ESPN. However, the numbers slipped through the first five weeks and McMahon pulled the plug early in the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the University of  Houston, which played host to the Roughnecks, believes it is entitled to about 800K

Per 247sports.com:

UH, in addition to hosting the Roughnecks, was also home to the XFL’s training camp ahead of its short-lived 2020 season, and the has the potential to host games once again if the league can be revitalized. A section of a recent court filing, as provided by XFL News Hub, indicated that both parties already agreed to a payment of nearly $730,000, but UH claims that an additional $112,500 is due.

“Upon information and belief, the Parties are in agreement of a cure amount of $729,444.25.2 (UH) asserts that an additional $112,500 is due (for a total of $841,944.25) under the Venue Use Agreement for field replacement which has already occurred and costs and expenses have already been incurred. While the second installment payment of $112,500 is not due until May 2021, the University is aware that an argument could be made by a prospective purchaser in a sale that such amount accrued pre-petition and therefore should have been included in the cure amount. As a result, the University is filing this Objection to preserve the issue.

WHEREFORE, the University respectfully requests that the Court permit the University to preserve the issue that the referenced $112,500 shall be due and owing under the terms of the Agreements upon any assumption and assignment, and grant the University such other and further relief, both at law and in equity, to which the University may justly be entitled.”

Johnson starred in an HBO series around football called “Ballers.”

 

Vince McMahon says he is not going to try and buy back the XFL

The court filing suggests Vince McMahon has his fill of football.

Vince McMahon says he isn’t trying to swerve anyone and buy back the XFL, which he put into bankruptcy due to the COVID-19 pandemic after a half-season.

The news came out of a bankruptcy filing Tuesday. The WWE impresario said he was keeping his options open in the original filing so he had a chance to “make up my mind.” The committee’s filing last week pushed him to decide against a bid, he said.

“I don’t know why that’s out there, making me out to be the bad guy, [that] I’m going to buy the XFL back for pennies on the dollar, basically,” McMahon said in the deposition. “That helped me move into the direction of, ‘I’m not going to be a bidder, not going to have anything to do with it.’ I do hope that someone will pay a lot of money for it, and I do hope that it will survive.”

McMahon originally launched the XFL in 2001 and rebooted the league in 2019. McMahon owned 80% of the league through his management company Alpha Entertainment and 20% through the WWE.

The second incarnation of the XFL made it through five weeks before the pandemic shut it down and McMahon decided to take the bankruptcy route. A report last week suggested he was going to try and buy the league back at a discount.

The XFL has hired the Houlihan Lokey brokerage firm to handle the sale. Letters of intent are due June 12 from interested parties. Final bids are due July 6, subject to approval by the bankruptcy court, in hopes of putting potential new owners in position to get the XFL back on the field in spring 2021, if desired.

 

Report: Vince McMahon trying to buy back XFL at massive discount

Vince McMahon has plans to buy the XFL out of bankruptcy … at a major discount, according to a report.

This could be the ultimate swerve in the football world. After having the XFL placed in bankruptcy, Vince McMahon could be looking to buy back his baby … at pennies on the dollar.

The Athletic is reporting the WWE boss is looking to purchase his fledgling league out of bankruptcy. McMahon is looking to buy back the XFL at a “fire-sale price,” says the report.

Why?

…  in a series of court filings, the XFL’s unsecured creditors expressed concern that the league declaring bankruptcy could’ve been a “cutthroat finance ploy by McMahon to ride out the (coronavirus) pandemic and resultant economic turmoil without paying the costs of operating the league … (and re-acquire) the debtor at a fire-sale price.”

Last month, the league suspended operations and fired all of its employees, aside from a handful of executives, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The XFL had played half of its 10-game regular season before stopping because of the spread of COVID-19.

McMahon has also been sued for North of $23 million by Commissioner Oliver Luck, who was fired.

Antonio Callaway signing cited as the reason why the XFL fired its commissioner

Troubled former Browns WR Antonio Callaway was cited in legal documents by Vince McMahon for justifying his firing Oliver Luck from the XFL

The XFL 2.0 recently folded in large part due to the COVID-19 situation, but founder Vince McMahon apparently feels that a larger portion of the blame deserves to be on the shoulders of the league’s commissioner. McMahon fired commissioner Oliver Luck before the league folded. This led to a lawsuit being filed by Luck for wrongful termination.

At this point in the process, McMahon has stated to the U.S. District Court of Connecticut that he did in fact have a list of justifiable reasons to fire their commissioner. The biggest reason is his handling of the COVID-19 situation, but a surprising reason that was listed was the league’s signing of former Cleveland Browns receiver, Antonio Callaway.

McMahon made a point of claiming that the XFL would not sign players with checkered pasts. The WWE chairman is stating that Luck never informed him of Callaway’s past before signing him to a pretty large — by league standards — $125,000 bonus. To make matters worse, after Callaway was signed and allocated by the Tampa Bay Vipers, he immediately suffered an ACL tear before the first game. This resulted in even more funds being spent due to surgery and medical payments.

The Browns drafted the troubled Florida wide receiver in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. This was one of the more interesting selections of that class. Callaway had more talent than his draft slot would indicate, but due to a plethora of off-field incidents ranging from sexual assault to drugs was still available in round four.

Former Cleveland GM John Dorsey was the brains behind the selection of Callaway and at first, the controversial pick paid off. Callaway quickly snagged the No. 3 spot in the receiving corps, but the shine rapidly started to fade. Callaway reported to camp the next season overweight and showed up to numerous meetings late, which led to his eventual release.

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Report: XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck sues Vince McMahon

XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck is taking the legal route against WWE boss and football league founder Vince McMahon.

XFL Commssioner has been silent since the league’s founder, WWE boss Vince McMahon disbaneed the league and filed for bankruptcy. Now, comes a report from The Athletic, Luck is suing McMahon for wrongful termination.

Luck was hired after a strong run with the NCAA as the league’s commissioner. His contracted called for $20 million over multiple years.

Luck says he fulfilled his end of the bargain, running the league since its resurrection in January 2018 — only to be “wrongfully terminated.”

The league made it through five games in its reincarnation before play was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic. McMahon ended the league permanently when he filed for bankruptcy.

Per report:

In a federal lawsuit filed last week in Connecticut, Luck seeks unspecified damages from McMahon.

Luck’s complaint is heavily redacted to protect confidential contract information. But what it does say is, “Despite fulfilling his obligations as Commissioner and CEO since May 30, 2018, Mr. Luck was wrongfully terminated by Alpha Entertainment LLC (“Alpha”), an affiliate of Defendant, on April 9, 2020. Thus, Alpha has repudiated Mr. Luck’s employment agreement. Mr. Luck brings this action for breach of contract and declaratory judgment against…

Luck’s complaint states he was terminated April 9, one day before most of the league’s staff. The complaint includes a letter “Luck sent to McMahon disputing the reasons laid out in the termination letter,” The Athletic report states.

Luck “wholly disputes and rejects the allegations set forth in the Termination Letter and contends they are pretextual and devoid of merit,” per the complaint. Luck is seeking unspecified damages, attorney’s fees and interest and a declaratory judgment on fulfilling the terms of the contract.

Luck put together a strong management team that came up with many innovations. The XFL kickoff was well-received with its newfangled lineup. There were many successes for the league, as opposed to the circus its first live proved to be.

Could designation of WWE as essential business in Florida open door for boxing?

Bob Arum is looking into the possibility of staging boxing cards in Florida after the WWE was declared essential business.

Could Florida be the state in which boxing makes its comeback?

Promoter Bob Arum told ESPN that he’s looking into the possibility of staging boxing cards there after Gov. Ron DeSantis described World Wrestling Entertainment in a memo as essential business in Florida during the coronavirus pandemic.

WWE officials reportedly are considering their training facility in Orlando and the private Full Sail University in Winter Park as possible sites for events.

Arum said DeSantis’ announcement could open the door to combat sports events. He added that he planned to reach out to WWE officials.

“It’s very, very interesting, and we’re going to be in touch with them. There’s a possibility to use their facility to maybe do events without a crowd,” Arum said Tuesday.

He went on: “We’re very close with Vince [McMahon] and the WWE. So let’s see, but we’re still not talking before June.”

Arum told ESPN that there is a strong possibility that events will be held without live audiences, at least as the sport begins to rebuild. And he suggested that big events will have to wait until it’s safe to have spectators.

“But it all depends, the whole reopening of the country, the different states, it all comes down to the same thing — testing, adequate testing,” he said. “You cannot open it and have athletes compete against each other with referees, the judges, with camera people, unless you can ensure that it’s safe. And the only way you can ensure that it’s safe is with testing. It comes down to testing.”

And as for the big events: “Those are either going to have to wait until you have spectators, or if the fighters get antsy, they will have to deal with an adjustment in their purses because you will have cut off an important revenue source from the event.

“For example, [Tyson] Fury and [Deontay] Wilder, the gate was close to $17 million. And that’s from the public buying tickets to the fight. How do you replace that? Well, if you don’t replace it, then somebody has to eat that.”
The third Fury-Wilder fight has been pushed back to the fall.

“I’m very optimistic that we’ll be doing events for audiences in the last three months of the year,” Arum said. “Do I know for sure? No. But that’s in my mind how I’m calculating it.”

XFL bankruptcy shows WWE owned nearly a quarter of the league

The XFL filed for bankruptcy and there were some intriguing details in the paperwork.

The XFL filed for bankruptcy Monday and there were fascinating details in the league’s paperwork.

When the XFL was reborn in 2018 after a disastrous 2001 season, Vince McMahon said he was the sole funding source for the league. The initial outlay was expected to be around $100 million, the amount of WWE stock McMahon sold in December 2017, and put into Alpha Entertainment, the company that was the foundation for the league.

“I wanted to do this since the day we stopped the other one,” McMahon told ESPN in an exclusive interview. “A chance to do it with no partners, strictly funded by me, which would allow me to look in the mirror and say, ‘You were the one who screwed this up,’ or ‘You made this thing a success.'”

However, the bankruptcy filing shows that while the sports-entertainment impressario owned 76.5% of the league, the remainder belonged to WWE.

The reality is while the XFL faced a monumental uphill battle to succeed, this was nothing like its 2001 incarnation. The coaches and players stuck to football. Commissioner Oliver Luck put together a strong, innovative team that added clever spins to the game.

Based on the filings, the league has between $10-50 million in both assets and liabilities. Some of the creditors were clear-cut, such as the league’s coaches: Bob Stoops ($1,083,333.33), Mark Trestman ($777,777.78), Jonathan Hayes ($633,333.33), and Winston Moss ($583,333.33). Luck had a $20 million contract with the league. What financial responsibility McMahon will have to the commissioner has been an intriguing point.

For the complete filing, click here,

XFL suspends operations, lays off employees

The XFL has suspended operations and decided to lay off its employees.

The XFL had its season cut short — as did many other sports leagues — by the coronavirus pandemic. Now, comes news the fledgling league decided Friday to suspend operations and lay off its employees.

The league was in its second incarnation, after the first turned into a circus in 2001. Vince McMahon decided to have another go at football and brought on Oliver Luck as the league’s commissioner.

This go-round provided more interesting football and some great innovations, such as on kickoffs.

The Houston Roughnecks were undefeated through five weeks and produced the league’s first star in quarterback P.J. Walker, who recently signed with the Carolina Panthers.

Some reaction from Twitter:

 

 

XFL officially cancels its 2020 season

The XFL is making a wise decision, canceling the rest of its season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Like the AAF, the XFL did not make it through its first season. However, the league headed by Vince McMahon and Oliver Luck has an excuse: the coronavirus pandemic.

The league announced Friday it is officially cancelling the rest of the 2020 season due to the pandemic plaguing the country. The XFL made it through five weeks before having to stop because of the virus that has gripped the United States.

The league brought interest to spring football, especially through its innovative approach to the game. The kickoff was reinvented by the XFL.

The end of the note looks forward to a 2021 season. No word on whether the undefeated Houston Roughnecks will be crowned champions. It will also be intriguing to see how many players are offered contracts by NFL teams.

Rob Gronkowski to play host to two-night WrestleMania 36

Rob Gronkowski is going to add host of WrestleMania 36 to his resume.

The show must go on in WWE and WrestleMania 36 will be unlike any other. The sports-entertainment juggernaut headed by Vince McMahon may have had to audible from having it at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium but that only got the extremely creative minds in Stamford, Ct, thinking.

WrestleMania 36 will now be a two-night extravaganza and the host will be none other than three-time Super Bowl champion, former New England Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski, who promised more details when he appears on SmackDown Friday on FOX.

It was thought the show would take place at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fl, without an audience. Not happening that way. The event will take place from multiple sites, per Dave Meltzer.

WWE released a statement Wednesday regarding its plans:

WrestleMania 36 is now set for a historic two-night presentation on WWE Network with former New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski hosting The Show of Shows at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on Saturday, April 4, and Sunday, April 5.

The 2020 edition of The Showcase of the Immortals will make history as the first to span across multiple days.

Earlier this week, it was announced WrestleMania 36 would emanate from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando and only essential personnel will be on the closed set during production.

Titles and legacies are on the line as WrestleMania 36 features a loaded slate of matches. Royal Rumble Match winner Drew McIntyre challenges WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, Universal Champion Goldberg defends his title against Roman Reigns, and Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch looks to fight off the rise of Shayna Baszler. Also, 16-time World Champion John Cena returns to battle “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, AJ Styles hopes to put the “final nail in the coffin” of The Undertaker’s career and much more.