Pat McAfee discusses his return to WWE.
Pat McAfee previously had a memorable run as a member of the WWE SmackDown commentary. He stepped away from WWE after he joined ESPN College GameDay in September 2022. McAfee made multiple returns over the next year, and he appeared again at WWE Royal Rumble 2024. He joined the commentary team, and he briefly competed in the Men's Royal Rumble. On the January 29 episode of WWE Raw, Michael Cole announced that he and Pat McAfee were the show's new commentary team.
Speaking on the January 30 edition of The Pat McAfee Show, Raw's newest commentator commented on his return and his new role.
"I hopped back in the booth last night for Monday Night Raw and on Saturday for Royal Rumble. Haven’t done it in like a year or so. I’m gonna have to relearn the beats and the flow and what’s happening," McAfee said.
Later in the show, McAfee brought up Gunther's chops and his record-breaking WWE Intercontinental Championship reign.
“Lot of slapping last night with Gunther. Those shots, you feel them. It’s like, ‘Who the hell…?’ I’m not taking one of those. He has [had the title for a long time]. Longest of all time," McAfee said.
McAfee also noted that he heard some criticism about the way he kept talking during some promos. He noted that it's hard for him not to say anything when the performers were saying exciting things. McAfee also emphasized that he has to figure out the flow of WWE commentary now that he's back, and he made it clear that he's excited.
“I saw some wrestling marks who…I too, mark by the way, that is not a shot. Wrestling fans, I will say, because that term has been slanderized and everything like that, I saw them say a couple times, ‘Is this guy gonna talk through everybody’s promos?’ It’s hard for me not to go, ‘Ooh,’ when somebody says something. There were some good words spoken last night. There was tears in the ring last night. It was awesome being back. I gotta figure it out though, again. It’s such a different flow and beat than anything else. [I had] a blast. I had so much fun out there. There was a couple times I looked at Michael Cole, and I’m like, ‘What is happening?’ It’s coming back, like, ‘Oh yeah, oh yeah.’ They have picture-in-picture now, so getting into picture-in-picture, out of picture-in-picture. Obviously, new people in the headphones, it was fun, man. I’m loving it. It was an honor to be back there. Thank you to everybody for the hospitality, and let’s go. Let’s have a good time with this entire run. I’m pumped about it," McAfee said.
Following McAfee's return, Corey Graves and Wade Barrett are reportedly set to be the new commentary team for WWE SmackDown. More information is available here.
Click here to catch up on our coverage of the January 29 episode of WWE Raw. For a full review, check out the post-show podcast on our YouTube channel.
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