XFL owner (and WWE Chairman) Vince McMahon promised that his second attempt at an upstart football league would be a bit more conservative than the first one was at the turn of the century.

That certainly seems to be the case with the team names and logos released this week.

Gone are the Memphis Maniax, Orlando Rage, and Los Angeles Xtreme. Instead, like the NFL, it’s fairly traditional names that all end in “s.” Only two names appear to have ties to their city or region.

Let’s take a look at each one.

D.C. Defenders

The (Washington) D.C. Defenders will have a red and white color scheme if their logo is any indication. The main feature of the logo is a soccer-style shield. It’s red with a white outline, with white, interlocking lightning bolts and three stars in it.

Dallas Renegades

Texas is home to two of the league’s eight teams. The XFL’s press release announcing the names and logos describes the Renegades as “outlaw country, inside the lines.” The logo features the look of a Western outlaw – cowboy hat and a bandana covering his face. Those two elements are a muted powder blue, with a black outline. The Renegade has red eyes and long, black hair.

Houston Roughnecks

The Roughnecks’ logo can be best described as an updated version of the old Houston Oilers’ logo. It’s a red, white, and dark blue oil derrick, with an “H” in it to signify the city’s name and a red “lone star” on top. The color scheme is the same as the NFL’s Houston Texans. The name “roughneck” describes a person who has a job that involves hard manual labor, and its most common application is for that of an oil rig worker.

Los Angeles Wildcats

A generic name, sure, but the L.A. Wildcats appear to be going for a heat motif to match the hot Southern California temperatures. The L.A. logo is red and orange, and has edges that appear to be flamed (especially on the “A”). The XFL calls it “Showtime with a snarl.”

New York Guardians

Described as “watchdogs over the metropolis,” a catchier name may have been the Gotham Guardians. It looks like the lions outside the New York Public Library come to life. The logo is primarily black and gray, except the beast’s eyes and teeth, which are red. Some on social media have described it as if the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas merged with the logo for the nearby MGM Grand hotel.

St. Louis BattleHawks

Why have Hawks when you can have BattleHawks? The XFL’s “winged warriors,” charged with a mandate of “winning at all costs,” become the new football team in St. Louis – the BattleHawks are the only XFL team not to play in a current NFL market. The logo is sharp – a silver and blue sword, surrounded by wings on each side.

Seattle Dragons

The Dragons are described as “rising from the turbulent sea (Puget Sound?), beneath the darkening skies of their weather-hardened home.” Seattle’s logo appears to be based on the UAB Blazers’ dragon. It features a green body of the dragon and orange accents, including the standard flame coming out of the fire-breathing dragon’s mouth.

Tampa Bay Vipers

While Florida is known as the home to many snakes, this will likely be the Sunshine State’s first Viper. Perhaps the favorite team of WWE wrestler Randy “The Viper” Orton, Tampa Bay’s color scheme is green and gold, similar to the region’s USF Bulls and Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer teams. The “V” is styled like the head of a snake.

Now that the teams and logos have been announced, each team can begin signing players for the start of the 2020 season. Each of these cities and names will go down in history as the original 8 teams of the 2020 XFL season. As everyone ranks the team names and logos, it will only matter how good each team performs on the field this coming season. Good luck to each team, as of right now, they are all winners.

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