8 Things We Learned From Pat McAfee On Stephanie McMahon's WWE Show
5. Pat’s First WWE Appearance Was In 2009
The above screenshot is from the 12 October 2009 episode of WWE flagship show Raw. Check the contrast in facial expressions too; the dude on the right looks like he'd rather be anywhere else. Meanwhile, Pat in the middle is clearly having the time of his life and loving the fact that pro wrestling cameras are trained on him. McAfee wanted more of that. Way more.
He was a member of the Colts roster, so it made sense that WWE's cams focused on the group when running a show from Indianapolis, Indiana. Some of his teammates couldn't have cared less about the whole wrestling thing, but Pat was buzzing. He admits that some of his over the top reactions from behind the commentary desk were born during his cameos as a member of the Colts in '09.
McAfee appeared on camera for WWE TV shows several times over the next few years, and he was always energetic. When travelling to the arenas, Pat also told his teammates that he was “supposed to be a professional wrestler”. Some of them probs laughed at that, but he didn't care. The guy was manifesting hard. However, nobody would've suspected that the tanned jock with the wacky facial expressions in the front row was ever going to become a celebrated WWE colour commentator.
Pat didn't see that coming himself. He told McMahon that doing commentary was never his dream. If he was going to make it in WWE, it'd be as a full-time wrestler. It's funny how things shake out, eh? McAfee has had a few matches, but he's best known for using his voice rather than his fists.