In February 2001, Vince McMahon stood at the center of the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. He held a microphone and barked a simple question to a frenzied crowd: “This is the XFL… Are you ready?” It was the launch of the most ambitious and ultimately disastrous expansion project in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment (then the WWF). Partnering with NBC and its executive Dick Ebersol, McMahon attempted to create a direct competitor—or at least a rowdy alternative—to the National Football League (NFL). The premise was simple: The NFL had become the “No Fun League.” It was too soft, too corporate, and too regulated. The XFL would be “real” football. It would have no fair catches, fewer rules, harder hits, and the edgy production style of the Attitude Era. What followed was a

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