In the wake of signing a huge new deal with ESPN, Pat McAfee commented on a potential future with WWE.
Last month, McAfee announced that The Pat McAfee Show would be moving from FanDuel to ESPN as part of a multimillion, multiyear deal. The star stepped away from full time work WWE last year when he took on a new role as a sports broadcaster at ESPN, though he returned as a guest commentator at the 2023 Royal Rumble and also for an impromptu match with The Miz at WrestleMania 39.
Speaking in a new episode of SI Media with Jimmy Traina, Pat McAfee opened up about his relationship with WWE, revealing that he’s in constant contact with higher ups in the company, including Vince McMahon and Chief Content Officer Triple H.
“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 something that was going on through this whole process (ESPN deal), very much answered my questions.”
Continuing, McAfee revealed the advice he got from Vince McMahon when negotiating his new ESPN deal, saying that he often listens to both McMahon and Nick Khan when it comes to business decisions.
“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 kind of laid out by one particular person in a company that I was kind of negotiating with and everything like that. And I sent a question like, ‘This was said. Am I allowed to say this back?’ And it took a couple of hours, and I got a ‘DO NOT,’ period, and then it was like, ‘Now is not the time’ or something like that. I’m like, ‘Okay, f*ck.’
“Business-wise, I will listen to him and then Nick, the same thing. It’ll be another situation because Nick comes from the sports media world. So Nick knows pretty much all of these humans that I was kind of talking to and everything like that. So like…Nick Khan was like a ghost in this thing where I’d be like, ‘This person, what type of person are they?’ That type of stuff. He would send me back like boom, boom, boom, bang, pow, think about this. Thank you.”
“I Love That Place” – Pat McAfee On Wanting To Return To WWE
McAfee is fond of his time with WWE, and continuing in the interview, says his relationship with the sports entertainment giant is stronger than it’s ever been.
“It’s like, my relationship with the WWE, I don’t want to say it’s 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. We talked about this earlier. I love it. I think I’m good at it. I think I’m supposed to be 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 to get Stunned by Stone Cold Steve Austin, I lived out dream after dream after dream over there. I love that place. Our relationship is very strong. I know you said you can say anything to that but actually, I think we’re working. We’re all trying to figure it out.”
h/t WrestlingNews.co