Vince McMahon is relaunching the XFL football league.

McMahon originally introduced the league on NBC in 2001. It lasted one season, but this time will be different says the wrestling impresario. Instead of flashy cheerleaders and gimmicks, the new XFL - set to launch in January 2020, will have eight teams around the country playing on a 10 week schedule.

“I think the most important thing we learned with the older XFL and now the new XFL is the quality of the play,” he said. “We have two years to really get it right.”

McMahon said he didn’t know whether teams would allow nicknames on the backs of jerseys, as Rod “He Hate Me” Smart made famous. He also said he didn’t know which eight cities would get teams. “We’re way away from announcing (that),” he said.

The initial cash outlay for the project is expected to be around $100 million - which is coincidentally how much WWE stock McMahon sold last month and transferred to his new endeavor for the project, Alpha Entertainment.

"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.'"

The original XFL opened to great fanfare in 2001 with pro wrestling-style intros, salaciously outfitted cheerleaders, mic’d up coaches, fewer rules to protect player safety (described as “real” football) and an “opening scramble” rather than a coin toss. The X in XFL stood for “extra fun,” McMahon said at the time.

But it fizzled quickly, lasting only one season. Ratings plummeted and a double-overtime game caused “Saturday Night Live” to be delayed, angering officials at league co-owner NBC.

McMahon called the league a “colossal failure.”

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As we reported in December, McMahon has been mulling the decision for some time amid sagging NFL viewership and a racially charged kneeling epidemic of players who won't stand for the National Anthem. "People don't want social and political issues coming into play when they are trying to be entertained," McMahon told ESPN, adding "We want someone who wants to take a knee to do their version of that on their personal time." When asked whether he would allow former 49ers quarterback and kneeling progenitor Colin Kaepernick, McMahon said “Anyone who plays the game of football well and meets our criteria in terms of quality of human being, why not? As long as everyone abides by the rules as laid down.” “I think, again, it’s a time-honored tradition to stand and appreciate the national anthem with any sport here in America. In any country they do that. I think it would be appropriate to do that.” -Vince McMahon Vince McMahon says XFL will have nothing to do with politics or social issues and all players will stand for national anthem. Good start. — Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 25, 2018 McMahon will also reject any players with a criminal record, which narrows things down a bit. "We are evaluating a player based on many things, including the quality of human being they are," said McMahon. "If you have any sort of criminal record or commit a crime you aren't playing in this league." Vince McMahon ruling out Johnny Manziel from the XFL because he has a criminal record is one of the worst decisions of all timehttps://t.co/UhlP2pyK3F pic.twitter.com/DpWrYCdljv — Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 25, 2018 Advertisers and potential partners will have something to look forward to as well, says McMahon - as the XFL promises to offer "more creative feeds of the same game," according to ESPN. "I don't think people want to see the same thing when they're streaming as they see on television," McMahon said. "That's boring. I think fans want it shot in a totally different way, and I think there's an immersive opportunity that's more interactive to the game." Asked whether the NFL's sagging ratings and radioactive political woes are a factor in the XFL's relaunch, McMahon kept it classy, telling ESPN: "The start of this league has nothing to do with the NFL's troubles," McMahon said. "What has happened there is their business, and I'm not going to knock those guys, but I am going to learn from their mistakes as anyone would if they were tasked with reimagining a new football league."

Another difference between the NFL and the XFL will be compensation; players will make more for winning. "To me that's common sense," McMahon said. "Everyone in America lives when they perform, they get a raise or bonus. That's capitalism."

This is football reimagined. This is the XFL. Watch the official announcement — LIVE NOW! #XFL2020 https://t.co/KFX5oLmkHw — XFL (@xfl2020) January 25, 2018

In a documentary about the XFL entitled "30 for 30," McMahon and his partner in the 2001 endeavor - former NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol, pondered the possibility of relaunching the league once promoted as having fewer rules and rougher play than other leagues.

“I don’t know what it would be,” McMahon told Ebersol, adding “I don’t know if it’s gonna be another XFL or what it may be or how different I would make it. It seems like in some way it would tie in either with the NFL itself or the owners.”

EXCLUSIVE: Vince McMahon is looking to bring back the XFL and may announce it on January 25th, 2018. — Brad Shepard 🤘🏻 (@TheBradShepard) December 16, 2017

In what I’m sure is a complete coincidence, WWE filed for two new XFL trademarks this year, both long after the 30 for 30 premiered. — David Bixenspan (@davidbix) December 16, 2017

As Mike Florio of PFT wrote in December:

Arguably, the time may be right for the XFL or something like it. A November 2016 Sports Illustrated article regarding the current state of football in America created the distinct impression that fans want old-school football, with all the big hits and none of the obsessions over safety. “Those attitudes from fans coupled with the messages that invariably will be sent by the incoming Commander-in-Chief,” we wrote on November 16, 2016, “suggest that the time may be right for someone to roll the dice with $250 million or so in the hopes of launching a football league that would essentially operate like a modern-day XFL — loud, proud, violent, brutal, bloody, and everything that the NFL was before political, legal, and social sensitivities forced the league to change.”

The XFL is back?

THE XFL IS BACK pic.twitter.com/Qazw1ZrZc3 — Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 25, 2018

XFL should make players wear shock collars that activate if they don't stand and salute the flag during the national anthem — Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) January 25, 2018