After joining WWE a few years ago to do commentary for SmackDown, McAfee has made two appearances for WWE thus far this year.
McAfee, who stepped away last fall to be part of the ESPN “College Gameday” panel, was a surprise commentator for the Royal Rumble and wrestled The Miz at WrestleMania 39.
McAfee made headlines last month when he signed a deal with ESPN to move his Pat McAfee Show to the network for big money.
While appearing on SI Media With Jimmy Traina, McAfee noted that he still has a great relationship with WWE, but the two sides are trying to figure out a way for him to be part of the product while he balances a busy career and personal life with a newborn.
“Myself, Michael Cole, Nick Khan, Kevin Dunn, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Vincent Kennedy McMahon. We are all still very much in contact with each other. Two of those men, Nick Khan and Vince were people that, when I had a question about something that was going on through this whole process ESPN deal), very much answered my questions. Vince gave me a stern ‘Do not’ for one thing that I was thinking about doing because I did not appreciate the way something was kind of laid out by one particular person in a company that I was kind of negotiating with and everything like that. And I sent a question like, ‘This was said. Am I allowed to say this back?’ And it took a couple of hours, and I got a ‘DO NOT,’ period, and then it was like, ‘Now is not the time’ or something like that. I’m like, ‘Okay, f*ck.’ Business-wise, I will listen to him and then Nick, the same thing. It’ll be another situation because Nick comes from the sports media world. So Nick knows pretty much all of these humans that I was kind of talking to and everything like that. So like…Nick Khan was like a ghost in this thing where I’d be like, ‘This person, what type of person are they?’ That type of stuff. He would send me back like boom, boom, boom, bang, pow, think about this. Thank you. It’s like, my relationship with the WWE, I don’t want to say it’s stronger than it’s ever been, but actually stronger than it’s ever been, and we are all very much talking about how I get back into the universe because I love it. We talked about this earlier. I love it. I think I’m good at it. I think I’m supposed to be there. I understand why people are doing things. I think that’s why commentating was a good spot for me alongside Michael Cole, the greatest of all time. Getting to get Stunned by Stone Cold Steve Austin, I lived out dream after dream after dream over there. I love that place. Our relationship is very strong. I know you said you can say anything to that but actually, I think we’re working. We’re all trying to figure it out.”
You can listen to the entire interview by clicking on the player below:
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit SI Media With Jimmy Traina with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
