George Kittle discusses his nerves and excitement regarding being involved in WrestleMania 39.
A noted wrestling fan, George Kittle got the chance to hop the barricade and be involved in WrestleMania 39 during Pat McAfee's impromptu match with The Miz. Now, Kittle is discussing his experience with Rich Eisen and says WrestleMania was the second most anxious he's ever been in his life, right behind singing with Kelly Clarkson at the 2023 NFL Honors.
"Pat McAfee called me earlier in the week," Kittle began. "I've been pestering him a little bit since last year, 'Hey, man, if you ever need someone to help you in the ring, I'm available, don't care when.' He kind of stepped away from wrestling for a little bit. [So he says], 'Hey, are you still interested?' Like, of course, just hit me up? Then this past week, he said, 'Hey, I might have something for you. Are you still interested?' I said, 'Yeah, you have my number. I'll be there regardless. You want me to hop in there? Whatever you want. I can just come with the table, hit someone with a chair, jump off a ladder (probably not), but I'll do anything you want me to do. Then, I got to talk to Triple H. He little bit gave me the rundown, and then it's just Pat, The Miz, and me making some magic on night one of WrestleMania in LA."
"Pat McAfee, he's one of the boys. He suggested me for a bit," Kittle continued. "Every time he posted about wrestling, I throw him a little DM. I'd give him the sideways eyes like, 'Hey, I'm here, and just letting them know that I'm still available, but it's just how it came to be. He just gave me a call and lets me know I'm in WrestleMania on Saturday, just kind of talking about it. Then, Saturday night hits and it was the one of most -- I think it was the second most anxiety I've ever had in my life, behind singing with Kelly Clarkson."
Ultimately, Kittle says that while he was nervous and trying not to overthink everything, he's luckily good at hitting people and that made the experience natural for him.
Regarding whether or not he practiced any of his parts in the match beforehand, Kittle says there was a very brief discussion, and he was giving the advice to make sure to hit Miz harder than he thinks he'll get hit so that it looks better.
"[Pat] talk to me through it for like 5 minutes and then he's like, 'You know what? You got it. You're good to go. I don't want to put too much stuff in your head just go out there and hit him,'" Kittle recalled. "Then when I was walking back to my seat after the rehearsal, one of the other guys goes, 'Hey, make sure you hit him harder than he thinks he's gonna get hit. It will look better.' [I said], 'Sounds good.'"
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