Pat McAfee Makes Surprising Return to WWE at Royal Rumble

When Pat McAfee joined ESPN’s College GameDay crew, some wondered what that meant for his future in the WWE. That question was answered Saturday night as McAfee returned to the WWE in the middle of the companies Royal Rumble PPV.

McAfee came out in a surprise return just prior to the men’s Royal Rumble match. The crowd popped when his music hit and lead play-by-play Michael Cole sold the former NFL punter turned media mogul’s comeback as a shock to shock to everyone.

IT IS GREAT TO BE BACK..

🗣🗣LET'S GOOOOO #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/SOjd3Xs3Xp

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 29, 2023

The former West Virginia kicker then called the match and the rest of the PPV with Cole and fellow WWE commentator Corey Graves. It’s not yet known if this means McAfee is back full-time or if this was just a one-shot deal to get him back in the fold, but it was only a matter of time before he was in front of the WWE Universe again.

WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H did hint that the plan was always to bring McAfee back by suggesting it would likely happen at the conclusion of the college football season. As it turned out, WWE did exactly that just a few weeks after Georgia won its second consecutive national championship with a win over TCU.