Seems like it was only yesterday.

The XFL pulled week one crowds of 17,000 people. Ratings were pretty good. The 2.0 version of Vince McMahon’s football league introduced some intriguing new rules and put a decent product on the field.

Fast forward a couple of months and the league is now kaput because of the global pandemic, with commissioner Oliver Luck suing owner Vince McMahon.

Via ESPN:

Former XFL commissioner Oliver Luck has sued owner Vince McMahon in federal court, citing wrongful termination after McMahon’s decision to shutter the league.

According to the complaint, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Connecticut, Luck received a termination letter on April 9 — a day before McMahon laid off most of the XFL staff and three days before the league filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Luck “wholly disputes and rejects the allegations set forth in the Termination Letter and contends they are pretextual and devoid of merit,” per the complaint.

Much of the lawsuit is redacted, citing confidentiality clauses in Luck’s contract. He was hired in May 2018 for a deal reportedly worth approximately $20 million over its lifespan. Luck was not listed among creditors in the XFL’s bankruptcy filings, but the lawsuit alleges breach of contract.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, attorney’s fees and interest and a declaratory judgment on fulfilling the terms of the contract.

What a mess.

And McMahon is having his issues with WWE as well, which made a massive round of cuts last week, including the release of Mike Rotunda, aka “IRS,” on tax day! That’s a violation.

On a personal note, I wanted to see Oliver Luck succeed as XFL commish, since he’s a Mountaineer and a soccer guy, having served as an MLS president and general manager for five years. He was also the prez of NFL Europe and a GM for the Frankfurt Galaxy and Rhein Fire, which played up until 2007, when the league disbanded.

I imagine McMahon’s letter to Luck went something like this: