wrestling / News

Pat McAfee on His Future in WWE, Says He’s Not Under Contract to Do Anything Else With Triple H

August 25, 2020 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris
Pat McAfee WWE NXT Image Credit: WWE

ESPN recently spoke to NFL player Pat McAfee on his in-ring debut last Saturday at NXT TakeOver XXX. McAfee lost a singles match against Adam Cole and has overall received rave reviews for his performance. During the interview, he was asked if he has plans to step into the ring again in the future. Below are some highlights from Pat McAfee speaking to ESPN.

Pat McAfee on his feelings right before the match: “I was very intrigued to see how I would feel when I woke up, because I didn’t know. Toward the end of my career, the last five years of my career in the NFL, when I woke up on game days, I wasn’t nervous anymore. I was excited and ready to go out there and do my job. When I wake up on days where I do stand up in front of these theaters and stuff like that, I get excited as opposed to nervous. And I didn’t really know how I was going to feel. I woke up just ready to go. I wasn’t nervous at all. I felt very prepared. I felt very confident. I felt very comfortable, and I think excited would be the proper way to describe it, just ready to do it.

“And I think for me, it was 20 years in the making … it was something I’ve always dreamed of being a part of. And that morning when you wake up and say, ‘OK. Here’s a chance for me to do something I’ve always dreamed of doing.’ You can face that in two different ways. You can be nervous about it and be like, ‘Well, I hope it goes how I always dreamed of it.’ Or you can be excited and be like, ‘Well, I can’t wait to do this because I’ve always wanted to.’ I think that was how I attacked the day. I was like, ‘I just can’t wait to do this. I’m going to enjoy the entire thing and let’s see what the hell happens.’ And yeah, I enjoyed the hell out of Saturday a lot, all the way up until losing, obviously. But I just enjoyed the day as much as I possibly could.”

McAfee’s thoughts on his performance: “Well, I think overall, I paid respect to the business. I think I very much understood the outrage that came when my match was announced — when Triple H went on Get Up and issued me a challenge, and I accepted it from my honeymoon — the immediate reaction from the wrestling community was a negative one. And I very much understand why, because being a lifelong fan, anytime an outsider comes in [from a wrestler’s perspective], not only are they taking a spot that I dreamed I was a part of, but they’re also taking a spot that somebody else could potentially have. And I very much understood why people were upset about it.”

Pat McAfee on having another match in the future: “That seems to be a conversation that has been circling me for the last couple of days, and even maybe the last week or so in the buildup to this. And this is going to sound very cliche, but it’s 100% real and it’s how I literally operate with everything. I just focus on literally what’s next in my life. Because I run a business. I’ve got a daily show. I got a merch business. We have a touring company. I mean, there’s a lot of advertising, marketing. There’s a lot of things I do. And I just focus on what’s next for me.

“So for when it came to the match on Saturday, I was only focused on that match. I was only focused on, ‘OK, how do I go in here, put on a hell of a show, hell of a fight and get a win? And then, we’ll worry about everything after that on Sunday.’ We’ll cross that bridge whenever we get to it. And I’ve heard the conversation start all around me and there was a lot. … Even my mom was asking, ‘Well, are you going to do this again?’ I’m like, ‘Well, let’s worry about that on Sunday.’

“And then I got to Sunday, obviously, and I woke up. Neck was sore, back was sore, foot was sore. I got flipped on my head. To be completely honest, I’m not 100% sure what’s going to happen. I’m not under contract to do anything else with Mr. H. I assume he and I will talk about this at some point because I heard his comments in the press conference afterward, which were very nice.

“But for me, all I was worried about was that match at NXT TakeOver: XXX and then I’ll let everything else kind of sort itself out. And I think that’s where I’m at right now. I feel good. If I never get in the ring again, I’ll be very thankful for the opportunity and I’ll be proud of it. If something pops up and it’s right and my wife doesn’t mind, because I did miss some of the honeymoon for this whole thing and she’s been incredibly cool. There’s a lot that goes into it. To be honest, I just started thinking about it within the last 24 hours, and have no idea what the future holds.”

article topics :

NXT, Pat McAfee, Triple H, WWE, Jeffrey Harris