Pat McAfee Hits Back At WWE Fan Criticism

Pat McAfee responds to fan criticism of his commentary work.

by Andrew Pollard
Pat McAfee
WWE

With Pat McAfee having returned to WWE at the Royal Rumble and since been announced as a full-time member of the Raw commentary team alongside Michael Cole, the star has now responded to some criticism that came his way on Monday night.

For some fans, they took umbrage with McAfee at times talking while a wrestler was cutting a promo.

As picked up on and transcribed by Fightful, McAfee addressed this criticism on yesterday's edition of The Pat McAfee Show, noting how he's got to "figure it out" when it comes to getting back in the saddle of being part of a WWE announce team.

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Per McAfee:

"I saw [fans] say a couple times, 'Is this guy gonna talk through everybody's promos?' It's hard for me not to go 'Ooh' when somebody says something. There were some good words spoken last night. There was tears in the ring last night. It was awesome being back. I gotta figure it out though, again. It's such a different flow and beat than anything else."

The former NFL punter also detailed how much fun he's had since returning to WWE, how it's an honour to be back in the company, and also explained getting used to new practices, such as getting in and out of picture-in-picture segments.

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Pat McAfee's WWE commentary career started in a guest spot back in NXT in 2018. McAfee would eventually become a full-time part of the SmackDown announce team with Michael Cole, and he has of course competed in a WWE ring on several occasions, most recently - discounting his uber-brief appearance in the men's Royal Rumble last weekend - defeating the Miz at WrestleMania 39.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.