Pat McAfee On SmackDown Commentary Debut – “I Think I Stunk”
Ahead of the April 16th edition of SmackDown it was revealed that Pat McAfee would be stepping into the announce booth alongside Michael Cole.
Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, the blue brand’s new colour analyst gave his own assessment of his debut outing.
The former NFL star said that while he enjoyed it, he didn’t think his performance was all that impressive.
“I do not think I was anywhere near where I can get to as a commentator for professional wrestling. I used a lot of the words a couple times over and over. I was scared to have too much bass in my voice ’cause I didn’t want people to think I was trying to dominate the call or anything like that, but sometimes I sounded a little bit too soft. The standing — natural instinct was for me to stand when something happened. I guess a lot of people didn’t enjoy that. I appreciate that because that was potentially something that could get me into some sh*t. A lot of people say like ‘oh, you need to stay so we can.’ The clip of us coming back to the two shot of me standing [and] him sitting and me kind of being caught in a situation where I’m like, ‘Well I don’t know if I should stand or sit right now.’ That was one of those kind of ad-libbed moments that pop up that is incredible. I had a blast. I think I stunk, but I have a chance to get better. I enjoyed it. I’m very thankful to all the people at the WWE and to anybody that happened to tune in.”
The post-WrestleMania episode of SmackDown saw Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn go one on one, while Cesaro confronted Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
McAfee was also asked how it was interacting with Vince McMahon, but the sports media star revealed that McMahon wasn’t at the show.
Speaking at the time of the announcement, McAfee said that he was “honored and grateful” for the opportunity.
“For as long as I can remember WWE has been a company that I have admired, both for its incredible staying power of creating riveting entertainment and for its ability to connect people all over the globe,” said McAfee. “I’ve been fortunate to try a lot of cool professions but working for WWE was the one I looked forward to most. I am incredibly honored and grateful for the chance to give back to the business that has given me and many others so much and having the opportunity to sit at the same table that legends have graced is truly a dream come true. Now let’s go get it.”
H/t to Figure Four Online for the transcription.