Less than a week after the NFL season ended with the Super Bowl on Sunday, pro football continues to roll on as the second version of the XFL kicks off Saturday, 19 years after its first failed attempt.
The first rendition of the league, which was co-owned by pro wrestling magnate Vince McMahon and NBC, was a made-for-TV circuit that was heavy on sexual innuendo, showboating, taunting and flaunting — a football version of pro wrestling. On opening night, cheerleaders at a game in Las Vegas were shown strutting around the sidelines in skimpy costumes and viewers were introduced to the Las Vegas quarterback via a taped segment in which a cheerleader said, “Ryan Clement knows how to score.