8 Things We Learned From Pat McAfee On Stephanie McMahon's WWE Show

Some of his schemes got him into serious trouble.

Pat revealed he was just 10 or 11 years old in fifth grade when he began selling cigarettes at school to make some cash. That business venture (ahem) all started when he wanted some grape juice for lunch. The juice was 50 cents extra, and he didn’t want to ask for that at home. So, McAfee took the butt of a cigarette from a teacher’s ashtray and sold it to some kid down the street for 50 cents. “Wait a minute - we got something here”, he said.

That one moment planted a business seed in Pat's brain, so he started building things up to the point he had a carton of cigarettes in his school bag. He got caught eventually, of course, and the school nearly expelled him for it. That's when McAfee's mother stepped in and fought for her son. She made sure Pat didn’t get kicked out. He’s grateful for that, because his life could’ve gone off in a totally different direction in a heartbeat.

Mrs. McAfee stunned members of the school board by pointing to the positives in her boy's story. He was showing entrepreneurial spirit, cigarettes or not. She figured that was worth overlooking if he promised to behave and channel his natural cleverness into something less unhealthy. Her argument worked, so Pat's mother must've cut one hell of a promo that day.

The Rock, Paul Heyman, CM Punk and other WWE promo experts would've been proud. Pat certainly was, and he was relieved he could stay put in school.