Pat McAfee on His Mindset of Getting Into the Ring Again After NXT TakeOver XXX, How He Wanted to Show Respect for the Business

– During the latest episode of After the Bell, former NFL player Pat McAfee discussed his wrestling debut against Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver XXX. McAfee addressed his mindset about potentially returning to the ring again after his NXT match with Adam Cole and wanting to show respect to the business unlike other “outsiders.” Below are some highlights.

Pat McAfee on the question of him returning to the ring again: “The conversation that was happening very loudly around me the last couple of days before TakeOver XXX and now after TakeOver XXX about, ‘Are you going to get in the ring again? Are you gonna wrestle again?’ And whenever I said, ‘Well, I haven’t even thought about that.’ I think people thought I was lying. It’s like, ‘No, no.’ I was only worried about that match. So whenever I was training, I was only worried about training for that match. Let me get through this match, and then we’ll talk about that on Sunday. Then Sunday obviously came, and I literally had to roll out of bed because I could barely stand up. And I was like, ‘Alright, I guess now we have to think about what we’re going to do.’ So it’s just, it really is how I do my life.”

On not caring for outsiders not showing respect to the business: “Well, thank you for acknowledging that, but to me, it was the right thing to do. With my match, though, with my match I wanted to show respect to the business, and I think that was something that as a wrestling fan, I always hated when the outsider came in. I feel like — you’re not going to be playing an NBA All-Star game or a celebrity game and not at least put up a couple shots before the game. You at least practice a layup. There’s at least a thought of that. When you watch most of these outsiders – not all of them obviously, there’s some great matches that have happened. But a majority of them, it looks like the person didn’t even attempt to learn about the business. They weren’t a fan of the business or watched the business. For me, the biggest thing was that I want to respect this business. I want to — the people who have made a living in here, whenever they watch me, I want them to think like, ‘OK, that guy at least cared about the business a little bit.’ So for me, that was everything, and the fact that the the reception it was the way it was and the fact that people are out there banging on glass and everything like that, I was just very, very thankful, very appreciative, and very lucky for a spot at TakeOver XXX, and I knew that.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit After the Bell, with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.