Pat McAfee made his return to WWE commentary at the Royal Rumble last month after stepping away to be a panelist on College GameDay for the latest season of NCAA College Football. But he hasn’t been back on Friday Night SmackDown in his usual color commentary role ever since, leading some to wonder what his future with the pro wrestling promotion will look like. McAfee outright hinted at leaving the promotion while musing about his future in a long tweet on Wednesday.
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“Baby girl on the way… what’s that mean for my future with @WWE ? I LOVE it but, they’re allegedly gonna be sold, who’s buying them? Do I want to work/make money for those people?” McAfee wrote at one point.
WWE has been actively pursuing a sale ever since Vince McMahon forced his way back into the company last month, and some of the potential bidders include Disney and Endeavor. There were rumors that a deal had been agreed to with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, much to the horror of many wrestling fans, and while those initial reports have since been debunked the Saudis are reportedly still in the running.
More on Pat McAfee’s WWE Return
McAfee talked about his relationship with WWE officials not long after his Rumble return. The original plan called for him to be an active competitor in this year’s Men’s Rumble match, but the former NFL punter declined.
“They said immediately (after I left to work for College GameDay), Hunter (Triple H), Stephanie (McMahon), and Nick (Khan), ‘Rumble is like the perfect time to come back,’ because that’s when people come back and it’s after college football season. I was like, ‘perfect.’ I need something to keep me in shape. I get fat and I need something to keep working out for. I tried. Everybody saw me, I was getting after it. By week nine….I think I could have (done a couple minutes in the Rumble), but I don’t want to disrespect anybody. There were only 29 guys who came out because where the f— was Rey Mysterio? Is he okay? There are only so many spots and there is a lot of danger and s— that can happen,” McAfee explained.
“I told them, maybe week 13 or 14 of the season, ‘Hey, want to let you know, the season has been a grind with Gameday being an extra work day, I’m not going to be able to be in good enough shape for Rumble. I don’t want to disrespect Royal Rumble. I’m just letting you know where I’m at right now. I’m not waking up an extra hour or stay up an extra hour to get in shape or whatever is needed.’ It’s one of those combos. ‘We’ll chat later, all good.’ It was the goal, Royal Rumble was the goal, I wasn’t able to keep up with it because GameDay getting dropped in and what that schedule became,” he added.
