Various News – XFL Announces 2023 Rookie Draft, Kevin Ku On FTR vs. Violence Is Forever
The XFL has announced that the 2023 Rookie Draft will be held as a virtual event on June 16, extending off-season rosters to 90 players.
You can check out the official press release below:
XFL TO HOST 2023 ROOKIE DRAFT ON FRIDAY, JUNE 16
Offseason Rosters Expand to 90 Players
Arlington, TX (May 18, 2023) – The XFL today announced that the XFL Rookie Draft will be held virtually on Friday, June 16, 2023, opening the door of opportunity for undrafted players who meet the following requirements:
* Eligible to have been drafted in the 2023 NFL Draft
* Not under contract by a professional football team
XFL personnel directors and coaches have been actively evaluating talent for its 2024 season, including players who were invited to NFL rookie minicamps but did not sign a contract.
To allow for the increased number of players, XFL team rosters will be expanded from 51 to 90 players during the offseason.
Drafted rookies will be placed on XFL rosters with players who finished the 2023 season on active and reserve lists.
All players who sign an XFL contract, including players who remain under contract from the 2023 season, will have an “NFL Out” until Tuesday, December 26, 2023, following the conclusion of Week 16 of the NFL season.
ABOUT XFL
The XFL is a fan-first, fast-paced global professional football league with innovative rules and an enhanced 360-degree game experience. Anchored in world-class football, the XFL brings entertainment and innovation to advance the sport, expand player opportunities, and change the way that fans experience the game. The XFL has eight teams in Arlington (TX), Houston (TX), Las Vegas (NV), Orlando (FL), San Antonio (TX), Seattle (WA), St. Louis (MO), and Washington D.C. The XFL is owned by Dany Garcia, Dwayne Johnson, and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital Partners and launched in February 2023.
In a recent appearance on The Spotlight podcast, Kevin Kua revealed Violence Is Forever’s stance on FTR as a dominant force in tag team wrestling and how his team would like to face off against Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the original callout where the challenge was invoked: “They gave us an open mic and told us to say whatever I wanted and said if I wanted to talk about FTR, I could. So I said, ‘Okay.’ I don’t know how many people know this, but that match was supposed to happen a couple of times last year, end of 2021 into 2022. Obviously, they’re pretty busy, so it never worked out with their scheduled. So, we’re waiting.”
On the scheduling obstacles that need to be overcome: “I keep a list of my phone of wrestling accomplishments, wrestling goals, and who I want to wrestle and who we want to wrestle as a tag team. They are right up there and they have been for a very long time since we realized they were taking independent bookings. There are a couple of companies where it was supposed to happen, I won’t say who they are since it didn’t happen there, so I don’t want to put them on blast. It was supposed to happen at different companies, it just never worked out with their schedule. When we did extra work (at AEW) in Nashville, we actually talked to both of them and they were like, ‘Yes, we want this happen, we’re going to go speak to Tony Khan right now about taking more independent bookings.’ That was right before they started winning all the tag team titles. Obviously, it was hard to take a random independent date with a tag team that Tony Khan knows nothing about.”
On Tony Khan’s likely knowledge of VIF: “I assume nothing. I’m good friends with people he’s known and tape traded with back in the day. I’m sure that he watched a lot of wrestling, but I don’t know how much he knows of us as actual wrestlers. I’m sure he’s heard of us, but I don’t know how much he actually knows of us. I fully believe that if he knew who we actually were, we would be there right now. That’s not me trying to blow smoke up my own ass, I’m very confident that we are two of the best wrestlers, period, in the world right now. Look at our last year or two years. You can’t touch that. We’ve been everywhere, we’ve done everything, and we haven’t stopped. We never have an off-day. None of our matches are off days. We always go as hard as we can, doesn’t matter if there are five fans or 6,000 fans. We will do everything we can.”
In a recent appearance on the Talk Is Jericho podcast, AEW’s Vice President of Live Events and Touring, Rafael Morffi shared some insider information about the famous Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Prior to joining Tony Khan’s company, Morffi worked in WWE’s live events division and remembered suggesting Arthur Ashe Stadium to Vince McMahon as well. He said,
“I remember telling [Vince McMahon] about Arthur Ashe Stadium, while in the gym. This is when it did not have a roof. It was a good location, centralized, where a lot of our fanbase is. I explained to him that a roof is coming there. It eventually did, and I was no longer in WWE, and we had the opportunity to do it here (in AEW). We came at the right time here in AEW where there are options in the New York market place. Not only MSG [Madison Square Garden], and MSG, we’ve had conversations with them, but they have loyalty to WWE and I don’t blame them. I was a small part of that on the other side. I appreciate their loyalty and how they feel committed to WWE. We embraced a venue that is our own, being Arthur Ashe Stadium. It was something we were going to do right in our infancy. We were going to have that pay-per-view on your birthday [AEW Full Gear 2019]. We thought about it. We were concerned about the conditions, big show in New York right in the first month of our existence. Let’s play it safe. We were right. Baltimore, where we did have the pay-per-view, it was 20 degrees. We had a conversation with Arthur Ashe Stadium, great dialogue. We nurtured that, and we were going to have a show soon after the pandemic date, it was going to be sometime in 2020. Obviously, we didn’t have it. I’m amazed we were able to keep it under wraps and surprise everyone.”
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