The AAF was started after Charlie Ebersol worked on the XFL 30 For 30 documentary and he wanted to start up a league. Vince McMahon wouldn’t sell the XFL name to Ebersol, so Charlie — son of original XFL founder Dick Ebersol — sought out to start the AAF. Then Vince McMahon announced the return of the XFL to prove he could operate a football league.

The AAF failed miserably and leaked money in a big way before quickly closing up shop. This football alternative did not work out like Charlie had hoped when announcing that they would be going to the market a year prior to the XFL’s return.

Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that although the AAF came to Vince McMahon looking to merge with the XFL before the AAF kicked off their season, McMahon wasn’t interested. That doesn’t mean that McMahon won’t be buying some things from the now-failed promotion.

“The funny thing is that [the AAF] already had an infrastructure, but Vince already picked his team. Vince didn’t want their team and Vince thinks, you know whatever Vince is gonna get the assets for very little money and the only assets are like shoulder pads and helmets anyway and he’s gonna end up with their shoulder pads and helmets and maybe a few other things.”

The XFL might still be getting closer to their 2020 return, but it looks like they’ll be doing with with some equipment from a league that already failed before them. This just goes to show that while Vince McMahon might still be incredibly busy, at least he know when to cut a good deal.

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