McAfee reiterates how much he loves WWE.
This year, Pat McAfee has made two appearances for WWE. He showed up as a surprise commentator for the 2023 Royal Rumble Premium Live Event. He also had an impromptu match with The Miz at WrestleMania 39.
McAfee is still in contact with the higher ups in WWE, he said during his appearance on SI Media With Jimmy Traina. He recalled a business opportunity being on the table and he got advice from both Vince McMahon and Nick Khan.
Speaking about his relationship with WWE, McAfee said it’s stronger than ever and they’re talking about how to get him back in ‘the universe’.
So you know, myself, Michael Cole, Nick Khan, Kevin Dunn, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Vincent Kennedy McMahon, we all (are) still very much in contact with each other. Two of those men, Nick Khan and Vince were people that when I had a question about something that was going on through this whole process (Pat McAfee Show deal), very much answered my questions and said — Vince gave me a stern, ‘Do not’ for one thing that I was thinking about doing because I did not appreciate the way something was kind of laid out by one particular person in a company that I was kind of negotiating with and everything like that. So I sent a question. ‘This was said. Am I allowed to say this back?’ And it took a couple hours and I got a, ‘DO NOT,’ period and then it was like, ‘Now is not the time’ or something like that. I’m like, okay, okay, f*ck. Business-wise, I will listen to him and then Nick, same thing. It’ll be another situation because Nick comes from the sports media world obviously. So Nick knows pretty much all of these humans that I was kind of talking to and everything like that. Nick Khan was like a ghost in this thing where I’d be like, ‘This person, what type of person are they?’ That type of stuff. He would send me back like boom, boom, boom, bang, pow. Think about this. Thank you so it’s like, my relationship with the WWE, I don’t wanna say it’s stronger than it’s ever been, but actually stronger than it’s ever been and we are all very much talking about how I get back into the universe because I love it. We talked about this earlier. I love it, I think I’m good at it, I think I’m supposed to be in there. I understand why people are doing things. I think that’s why commentating was a good spot for me alongside Michael Cole, the greatest of all time. Getting to get Stunned by Stone Cold Steve Austin, I lived out like dream after dream after dream over there. I love that place. Our relationship is very strong so I know you said you can say anything to that but actually, I think we’re working. We’re all trying to figure it out.
Once McAfee committed to ESPN College Gameday and stepped back from his role on WWE SmackDown commentary, he shared that the expectation from all sides was that he’d be back after College Gameday wrapped.
McAfee said his wife was pregnant at the time. They tried in the past but it did not go in their favor but this go-round, they experienced months of a pregnancy that they had not before so McAfee decided that the best course of action was to be there for his wife.
My wife was very, very pregnant. This was my wife and I, we had gotten pregnant two times before, it did not work out. So this was our first time going full-term almost so we had not experienced some of these later months in pregnancy so the plan was, hey, after college football, after football, we’ll get back in there (WWE) and then with how the season was like for me, for the wife, for the pregnancy, after that, with how pregnant she was and everything we were going through (the) first time, all parties were like, all right, all right, all good, all good so, I think we were all expecting that as well and then the decision was made, pretty much like, hey, I’ma hang out here with the wife and really get through this as we welcome an absolute angel into the world.
In the summer of 2022, McAfee signed a multi-year extension with WWE.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit SI Media With Jimmy Traina with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
