“The Rock says…”
That used to be Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s way of calling out an opponent, embarrassing the “Mr. McMahon” character or introducing a new catchphrase when he was a full-time professional wrestler for the World Wrestling Federation, now known as World Wrestling Entertainment.
If that version of The Rock made an appearance today, Johnson might say, “The Rock says, let’s merge these leagues, you candy as—.”
Johnson’s pro football spring league – the XFL, as owned by himself and his ex-wife, Dany Garcia – have announced plans to merge with the United States Football League, more commonly known as the USFL, according to a story on espn.com on Thursday (Spring football leagues XFL, USFL announce plan to merge).
Johnson and Garcia purchased the XFL from founder – and his former WWE boss – Vince McMahon. The league originally was founded in the early 2000s, played a season, and then went dormant until 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the relaunch, but the league did play a full season this spring.
The USFL was a league that played three seasons in the 1980s and included such future NFL standouts as Steve Young, Jim Kelly and Hershel Walker. But it folded in 1985, and somewhat incredibly, re-launched in 2022.
Each of the leagues has eight teams.
