XFL Cheerleaders Back in the News

NASCAR star Tony Stewart proposed to girlfriend Pennelope Jimenez and the answer was “yes.” Thanksgiving truly is the most romantic of all the holidays.

Jimenez is a former Playboy Playmate and — more importantly — starred in XFL cheerleader commercials around the turn of the century. Remember those?

It’s hard to overstate how much of the cultural zeitgeist XFL cheerleaders were able to capture for a brief time. Encouraged to turn it up to 11 and interact with fans in the stands, they became a thing.

Here’s a straight-faced contemporaneous news report on the phenomenon.

And who could forget Vince McMahon’s famed halftime ratings stunt to put a camera in the cheerleader’s locker room? Watch this bit of incredible drama and imagine how it would play in 2017.

Simply stunning.

Anyway, returning to the point, congratulations to Stewart and Jimenez. Here’s hoping your marriage lasts much longer than the XFL.