Pat McAfee Says Relationship With WWE Is Strong, Talking About Getting Back In ‘The Universe’

Pat McAfee comments on a potential WWE return. 

McAfee has been making big moves outside of WWE, signing with ESPN to bring “The Pat McAfee” to the Mothership. McAfee was a full-time WWE announcer on WWE SmackDown throughout 2022, but stepped away in the fall to join ESPN College Gameday. He returned for one night at WWE Royal Rumble and then wrestled again at WrestleMania 39. 

Speaking to Jimmy Traina on the SI Media Podcast, McAfee provided an update on his WWE future. 

“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 what was going on during this whole process, 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 laid out by one particular person in a company that I was negotiating with and everything. I sent a question, ‘Am I allowed to say this back?’ It took a couple of hours, and I got a ‘Do not. Now is not the time,’ something like that. Business-wise, I will listen to everything. Nick is another situation because Nick comes from the sports media world, so he knows all of these humans I was talking to. Nick Khan was like a ghost, ‘this person, what type of person are they?’ He would send me a ‘Boom, boom, boom. Bang, pow, think about this.’ My relationship with WWE is, I don’t want to say 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. 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 stunned by Stone Cole Steve Austin. I lived out dream, after dream, after dream over there. I love that place. Our relationship is very strong. We’re working. We’re all trying to figure it out,” he said.

It is unknown when McAfee will return to WWE television. 

Elsewhere during the interview, McAfee reflected on interviewing Vince McMahon ahead of WrestleMania 38. You can find his full comments by clicking here. 

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