Pat McAfee expresses his gratitude following his return to WWE.
McAfee made his surprise return on the September 15 episode of WWE SmackDown, which marked his first appearance since WrestleMania 39. He was joined by The Rock for an in-ring segment with Austin Theory. They also had a brief backstage segment with John Cena.
Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, the former SmackDown commentator discussed his eventful return. He recalled how the appearance came together at the last minute.
“Hey, you want to go on SmackDown, open the show, and then be in the ring with The Rock whenever he does his thing?’ Uh, yeah. But there 5:34 local time. Traffic from Boulder to Denver was not great. Show starts six [o’clock] local time. So a lot a people talk about ‘How long did everything come together?’ It’s like real quick. Everything came together real quick. What an honor to be back there, honestly. Absolute honor to be back there. Great to see everybody. I thank them mightily for the opportunity to do that," McAfee said.
McAfee then highlighted the remarkable pop that The Rock received from the fans. He emphasized his gratitude for being a part of the special moment. McAfee them detailed how the segment with John Cena was pitched when he and The Rock were about to leave.
"Then this pop right here, [when The Rock came out], look at that shit. That’s Attitude Era. That’s way back in the day. The Rock hadn’t been back in four years. So this Denver crowd was loud to begin with. When I went out there, I heard them. I was like, ‘This is a louder crowd than it normally is.’ Then all the sudden, not only is it an active and loud crowd, then you got the ‘If You [Smell], what a night, dude. I’m so thankful that I was even asked to be a part of that. It was so cool to see everybody. Then watching The Rock just in there. Watching his face, I said, ‘It’s a two-hour show.’ He looks at me, ‘The Rock knows it’s a two-hour show.’ [The Cena and Rock interaction] was amazing. They are like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna have you guys walk out here.’ This was literally on our way out. They’re like, ‘Can we get a shot of you guys walking out?’ Then obviously, we’ll have Cena in there as well. I was like, ‘You don’t need to have me in here. Listen, I understand the game here. There is no reason for me to be here. I appreciate it.’ They’re like, ‘No, need you there.’ Okay, yeah, absolutely. Then I’m standing there, just like everybody else, watching these two. I’m like, ‘Are these two about to set up for a WrestleMania run right now?’ I didn’t know if it was about to be a work or not. Then obviously, ‘I see you smiling,’ the whole thing. It was electrifying," McAfee said.
McAfee subsequently noted that people come to him and pitch things that are right out of his dreams. and he feels like he has to say yes. He stated that the SmackDown appearance was like that. McAfee also described how WWE told him to stay in the ring for the whole segment with The Rock, and he admitted that he didn't think he should have been in there.
"It’s like for me now, people are like, ‘Hey, do you want to,’ and they literally just draw up my dream thing. ‘You want to do that?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I think I have to do that.’ That was Friday. The WWE has seemingly done that for me more than any other group of humans on earth, so I appreciate the hell out of all of them over there," he said.
It is not currently known when McAfee will return to WWE.
Click here to see what The Rock had to say about his return to WWE.
In a Digital Exclusive, McAfee discussed his return and potentially reuniting with Michael Cole. Check out his comments here.
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