4 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Hell In A Cell 2021

4. Commentary Nosedive

When Pat McAfee debuted on the SmackDown commentary team after WrestleMania, he sounded like a breath of fresh air, a different voice who was nothing like the Byron Saxtons of the world.

But his “performance” at Hell in a Cell was so bad that it harkened back to another commentator who started off strong and quickly faded into a yelling caricature of himself: Matt Stryker. McAfee spent the blue brand’s matches yelling randomly and adding next-to-nothing to the storylines and match progression, which on a two-man announce team is not good at all.

McAfee was bad from the jump, being almost insufferable during the women’s HIAC match (yelling about how he forgets how to tie his own shoes), and just grating on viewers’ nerves throughout the night. It was such a jarringly bad performance – has he been getting worse week-by-week on SmackDown, or was this a sudden thing?

This is made even worse when you remember that WWE cut loose Samoa Joe and Tom Phillips right after Mania. And while they brought Joe back to NXT, he was perfectly capable behind the desk calling matches.