Not many were expecting a Pat McAfee match on the card of May 10’s WWE Backlash PPV. The former NFL All-Pro punter-turned-ESPN & WWE personality hadn’t worked a bout longer than a few minutes since SummerSlam ‘22. Even as a color commentator, he’s part-time with WWE. McAfee’s taken the last couple football seasons off from calling Raw or SmackDown to focus on his ESPN duties. But we’re not particularly close to gridiron games that count (sorry UFL), so it seems to early for a storyline write-off.
Expected or not, there McAfee was on Saturday night in St. Louis, getting his chest turned to hamburger like everyone else who’s faced Gunther in the squared circle.
Pat also made it clear that even though he lost at Backlash, he didn’t lose the way Der Ring General did at WrestleMania 41:
With their storyline seemingly resolved, speculation turns to McAfee’s WWE future. That started with Jackie Redmond saying on the Backlash Post-Show that it wasn’t clear whether Pat would be calling Raw tonight (May 12) in Louisville, Kentucky.
That speculation ramped up after McAfee shared this heartfelt message on his X/Twitter:
Don’t be scared to end a chapter and start anew.. you’re gonna have to do it eventually anyways.
And always remember to check with the mirror every once in a while and make sure your book is one that makes you happy.. and if it’s not, change direction.. I think that you’re allowed to do that.. we have NO IDEA when the final page is being written.. with no sequels. ‘Tis our only chance at this thing here.
I appreciate you all so much for everything. I’m living the dumbest book of all time.. trying to figure it all aht as I go..
#UpToSomethingSZN
“Up to something” season is McAfee-speak for a big announcement from Pat about, well, something. Previous SZNs have led to the reveal of his WWE and ESPN deals, and there are plenty of people making guesses that the news at the end of this one will also involve McAfee’s two biggest current employers.
McAfee is back hosting his daily sports talk show on ESPN & YouTube today, and led of the “progrum” with comments about his match with Gunther, which he described as a “real fight” featuring two “dudes beating the hell out of each other”. But no mention of his future plans... yet.
We’ll keep you posted.