Update on Pat McAfee’s WWE Status Following Recent Absence

Pat McAfee has been away from WWE for some time, but he could be back on WWE soon according to a new report. McAfee has been away from his WWE commentator role for a while due to his duties to the NFL. However, with the NFL season winding down, Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select reports that sources in WWE expect him back working with the company soon.

Exactly when “soon” is has yet to be determined. The NFL season officially ends with Super Bowl LX on February 8th. McAfee has a habit of making returns to WWE in January or somewhere thereabouts; 2025 saw him return to his duties with Raw’s Netflix debut. Meanwhile, in both 2024 and 2023 he returned at the Royal Rumble, though his 2023 return was not back to full-time until WrestleMania 39.

With the Royal Rumble taking place in Saudi Arabia, it is not clear if McAfee is coming back at the PLE. He still in the US as of today and hosting his show right now live as of this writing. That said, WWE was reported earlier this week as bringing in some surprises to Riyadh later in the week so that they are not on the big charter plane containing most of the WWE roster heading over.

The Royal Rumble takes place on Saturday and airs live on the ESPN App and Netflix internationally.