XFL Staff Laid Off, NXT TakeOver Matches Cancelled

XFL Staff Laid Off

With the coronavirus pandemic shutting much of the world down, many sports leagues have shut down indefinitely. We previously reported that the XFL reboot was among those leagues that opted to cancel the remaining games on their schedule.

Now, things have taken a darker turn for the reborn football league. According to ESPN, XFL staff were informed via conference call that they were all being laid off on Friday.

Based on the reports, this comes off less like a temporary furlough related to the shutdown. Instead, the sense is that this may be the end of the alternative to the National Football League. The report indicates there are no present plans for a 2021 season.

If this does mark the end of the XFL reboot, it is a sad and unfortunate end. While the first iteration of the league died after a season and everyone knew why, this time around things seemed poised to last.

The 2020 effort was more about traditional football and catering more to fans. The 20th Century version was more experimental, though it did introduce a number of concepts that eventually found their way into NFL broadcasts.

While no formal announcement has yet been made that would officially confirm the league is once again dead, it does not look good. One can hope that this is merely an extreme, albeit temporary, decision.

Looking at the product quality and fan response, there was reason for optimism in the league and it’s long term viability. While the original was killed off because it was just too unconventional, the reboot may have been yet another victim of the coronavirus.

NXT TakeOver Matches Cancelled

The widespread stay at home orders are wreaking havoc on the sports world. The bans on mass gatherings are too.

Last weekend was supposed to be NXT TakeOver: Tampa, which would have aired ahead of WrestleMania 36. Instead, TakeOver was scuttled and WrestleMania ended up taped and aired over two days.

The plan had been to air all of the planned TakeOver matches on USA. The matches would be spread out over several USA Network shows.

Now, we are learning that some of the planned matches will not be able to take place. This is per a report from the Wrestling Observer.

While arenas are shut down and people are sheltering in place, not all Superstars stayed in the United States. For example, Pete Dunne is one of several Superstars stuck at home in England.

The TakeOver card had an NXT Tag Team Championship match planned. We would have seen the Broserweights defend against Undisputed Era and NXT UK’s James Drake and Zack Gibson.

Gibson and Drake, like Dunne, are not able to travel out of the United Kingdom at present. Also, Kyle O’Reilly has underlying health concerns (diabetes) that would have him err on the side of caution and not work things until the pandemic settles down.

It had previously been reported that the planned Finn Balor versus WALTER match was also cancelled. WALTER has travel issues, like numerous other talents.

We should expect to see some of the NXT TakeOver matches as early as this coming Wednesday. It may be quite a while before we get to see some of the planned matches.