10 Ways 2018 Was WWE's Craziest Year EVER
9. THIS IS THE XFL...AGAIN?!
"Where's my smash-mouth, wide open football?!", Vince McMahon sardonically stated in a 2000 press conference in which he answered questions only he was asking. It became one of the many soundbites that spoke to his arrogance and self-belief around the misguided and misplaced venture during parodies and post-mortems, but the Chairman was determined to get the last eardrum-piercing laugh.
When it came, it was louder than the one that probably echoed through Corey Graves' headset as Drake Maverick p*ssed on Bobby Roode's robe.
McMahon kicked off 2018 with a jaw-dropping press conference substantially less obnoxious but no less defiant - he believed his vision for football was still the right one, and now again was the time to try and prove it. In the face of obvious and evidential adversary, McMahon promised a 2020 launch date under umbrella company Alpha Entertainment. There'll be no funnelled funds from WWE this time around, but those old enough to remember the last failed foray into football can recall with sadness how he took his eye off the real ball back then.
Enough has sadly changed in those intervening years to make those same remaining fans hope he does the same again.