WWE Reportedly Considered Having Pat McAfee Partner With a Major NFL Quarterback
Pat McAfee just had back-to-back matches for the WWE at WrestleMania 38, defeating Austin Theory and losing an impromptu match against Vince McMahon. The former NFL punter has now wrestled five matches, including two down in NXT where he played a cowardly heel while feuding with the Undisputed Era faction. It turns out his second match against the group, a grueling eight-man WarGames match in late 2020, got the WWE talking about pairing him up with Green Bay Packers quarterback (and weekly guest on The Pat McAfee Show) Aaron Rodgers.
According to Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso — "McAfee is also well-respected within the world of sports. After his breathtaking performance at WarGames in December 2020, there was serious internal discussion of having McAfee reappear after the loss to The Undisputed Era and jump Cole and align himself with a new partner, Sports Illustrated learned. The mystery reveal was going to be NFL superstar Aaron Rodgers, which would have brought instant mainstream notoriety to NXT. Though it never materialized, McAfee has all kinds of connections that could be capitalized upon in WWE."
McAfee has been working as the color commentator for SmackDown since April 2021 and was awarded the WrestleMania match while interviewing McMahon on The Pat McAfee Show.
"Last night was a dream come true. Last night was the time of my life. Last night...I should have been undefeated at WrestleMania, but I got bamboozled. There was no way that was a sanctioned match. I'm undefeated at WrestleMania," McAfee said on his show while reflecting on WrestleMania (h/t Fightful). He then broke character to say "Absolutely thankful for everybody and everything. Austin Theory, he's a good kid. He's on his way. I was very fortunate to be in there. There was some cool stuff that took place at WrestleMania. Shoutout to everybody on the internet that gave me a lot of love. I can't thank you enough. It was a fucking dream and you guys are the best."
WWE's next pay-per-view, WrestleMania Backlash, is slotted for May 8 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The card so far includes Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey in an I Quit Match for the SmackDown Women's Championship, Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins in a rematch from WrestleMania and a Raw Women's Championship match between Bianca Belair and Sonya Deville.