This week on “After The Bell,” Corey Graves welcomed Pat McAfee to the show.
McAfee is coming off his in-ring debut against Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver: XXX. He discussed the match and the reaction to it from fans, football and much more.
Check out some of the highlights below:
Pat McAfee talked about his experience working with Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver: “I got a chance to watch Adam Cole not only with the kickoff shows, but also from afar. Even leading up to the match, I watched his old stuff from Honorable Ring (Ring of Honor) to CZW. I even caught some stuff from Japan. I watched a lot of Adam Cole. The newfound respect, not only after going in there and dancing with him, but watching his whole body of work, the dude is so incredibly talented. It’s annoying how talented he is. It’s one of those things where it becomes a little too much. His TakeOver matches are always incredible. I knew that and me getting put in a spot to wrestle Adam Cole at a TakeOver, especially a monumental one like 30 heightens everything. The NXT expect greatness at TakeOvers because they are the greatest wrestling shows that ever happened. So I knew I was going in there with a guy that was incredibly talented was going to be a tall task but something I looked forward to and was very pumped and thankful for.”
McAfee discussed his relationship with Baron Corbin: “Corbin was known as Football Tom. Football Tom and I were rookies together with the Indianapolis Colts. We spent plenty a day and night together trying to figure out our lives on whether or not we were going to make it in the NFL. I was drafted in the 7th round, picked number 222. Tom and I got a chance to hang out. I think he stayed at my house for a little while. We went out a lot and befriended each other. We started this conversation having a common bond which was wrestling. We knew a lot about each other. He and I are very different people but wrestling was our bond. As we worked out and went out and had drinks together seeing if we were going to make the Colts or not, we had a lot of conversations about, hey, if this doesn’t work out, we are going to try wrestling. He was a golden gloves boxer already. It was a very real conversation. We grew tight and we were friends. He got cut from the Colts and went to the Cardinals. I got a chance to watch him on the WWE Network. I was so proud and happy for him following his career. We kept in touch. Obviously, as I did commentary for the Kickoff panels and I started getting into it, he was the guy I leaned on heavily to ask him like if I had a question, who should I ask because I didn’t want to step on any toes. Old King Corbin has been a guy I leaned on for conversation. I am a very big fan of that man as a human and an entertainer.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit After The Bell with Corey Graves with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription
