May 21, 2001 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: XFL disbanded, plus tons of news
If wrestling seems to move fast, the entire history of the XFL was like that of a lightning bolt.
Vince McMahon went from being the toast of the television world when huge ratings came in for opening night. And within one week, it became the butt of jokes, set record low ratings, lost millions and failed faster than you can say USFL.
McMahon and Dick Ebersol announced on 5/10 at a hastily put together press conference less than three weeks after the championship game that they were disbanding the league after McMahon a few hours earlier had gotten word from UPN that they were not going to pick the league up for a second season. NBC has pretty well made that decision during the season, but had yet to publicly acknowledge it. McMahon said that they, without UPN or NBC, looked into cutting the league into six times and going ahead with a second season, but felt it wouldn’t be economically viable, and shut it down.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.