Pat McAfee & WWE “Trying To Figure It Out” Over Future Together
Pat McAfee is a man in demand but the SmackDown announcer says that both he and WWE are talking about how he can come back to the company.
Pat McAfee took a step back from his commentary duties on SmackDown in 2022 when he became a regular on ESPN’s College GameDay. Now the former NFL punter is taking his Pat McAfee Show to ESPN as part of a mammoth 5-year deal worth $85 million.
Speaking on SI Media With Jimmy Traina, Pat McAfee explained that despite the megabucks deal with ESPN, he is still in close contact with the powers that be in WWE and says they’re all trying to figure out a way to get him back in the company:
“Myself, Michael Cole, Nick Khan, Kevin Dunn, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Vincent Kennedy McMahon. We are all 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 (his ESPN deal), very much answered my questions.
“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. And I sent a question like, ‘This was said. Am I allowed to say this back?’ And it took a couple of 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, f*ck.’
“Business-wise, I will listen to him and then Nick, the same thing. It’ll be another situation because Nick comes from the sports media world. So Nick knows pretty much all of these humans that I was kind of talking to and everything like that. So like…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. It’s like, my relationship with the WWE, I don’t want to 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 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 dream after dream after dream over there. I love that place. Our relationship is very strong. 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.”
McAfee was a surprise competitor at WrestleMania 39 when he took on The Miz in an impromptu match that went a lot better than The Miz’s bout the following night with Shane McMahon.