Pat McAfee was absent from the commentary desk for the fifth consecutive week on Monday Night Raw, with Corey Graves once again filling in alongside Michael Cole. With McAfee’s increasingly busy schedule outside of WWE, it appears fans may not see him return to a regular weekly role for some time.
A Needed Break
On a recent episode of The Pat McAfee Show, the popular host and commentator addressed his absence, citing the need for a break after a grueling schedule that saw him go directly from his ESPN College GameDay duties into the busiest part of the WWE calendar. “Continuing to just kind of catch up on life as a whole,” McAfee said. “I was getting pretty exhausted there. So shoutout to everybody at the WWE looking out for me, too. Very, very thankful”.
His schedule shows no signs of slowing down. This weekend, The Pat McAfee Show will be broadcasting live from the Coca-Cola Roxy near Truist Park in Atlanta as part of MLB’s Home Run Derby festivities. With Raw taking place in Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday, it is highly unlikely McAfee will be there.
A Familiar Pattern
This hiatus is not unusual for McAfee. In past years, he has taken time off from his WWE duties to focus on his role as an analyst for ESPN’s popular College GameDay show. The 2025 college football season is set to begin in Columbus, Ohio, on August 30th. If McAfee follows his previous pattern, his regular appearances on Monday Night Raw may not resume until after the college football season concludes early next year.
The move has seen Corey Graves return to the Raw commentary desk, a change that has been met with a generally positive reaction from many fans online, who have praised Graves’ more traditional style of storytelling and his chemistry with Michael Cole.
