Pat McAfee Describes First Meeting With Vince McMahon, Having Vince In His Ear During WWE SmackDown

Though Pat McAfee made his WWE SmackDown commentary debut on April 16, he didn’t get a chance to meet Vince McMahon for his first show. 

That changed on April 23 when McAfee was back behind the desk for week two with Vince in the building. 

Speaking on his Pat McAfee Show, McAfee recalled his first meeting with Vince. 

“There was a little bit of nerves and anticipation. I’ve done a lot of research on this man. Always heard [give] Vince a firm handshake. I was told by a couple of people, ‘when he’s talking, don’t feel obligated to nod because there’s a chance he’ll think you’re not paying attention. He is 100% invested in you when he’s having this conversation. Be in the moment.’ Michael Cole and I go to meet him before we go on the air. I go in there, get called in after waiting 15 minutes, I go in and he looks awesome! Swagged out. Great fit. He goes, ‘Pat.’ I’m coming in [for the handshake]. ‘Vince.’ Good shake. Great web to web, great eye contact. I go, ‘I know you don’t like to be complimented, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank you.’ Definitely a kiss ass moment, but also something I wanted him to know. He told me a couple of things, buried Cole. I go with a fist bump back, I didn’t know if he’s a fist bump guy. Good pop. Whole thing was 45 seconds to a minute,” he said. 

Stephanie McMahon previously explained why Vince doesn’t like when people nod. You can find her comments by clicking here. 

After meeting with Vince, Pat prepared for the next step; having Vince in his ear during the broadcast. 

When discussing what it was like to hear Vince in his ear, McAfee said, “He dropped into my ear, said something that made me laugh. Cole is like, ‘Has he come into your ear?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘You’re good then.’ ARE WE BEST FRIENDS?!?!?! As the show goes on, he would drop in and tell me something or remind me of something in hilarious fashion. Maybe others wouldn’t find it hilarious, but I did. We’d get to commercial and I’d be like, ‘That’s on me.’ He’d be like, ‘Don’t worry.’ It was like the voice of God.”

McAfee went on to say that he will continue to improve and knows he stepped on Cole a bit during the broadcast, which he will work on. 

If you missed anything from WWE SmackDown, check out Fightful’s full report on the show by clicking here. 

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