Pat McAfee had a strong showing in his WWE in-ring debut, but for now, he’s done with WWE although that could change.
The former NFL punter took on Adam Cole in a singles match at last Saturday’s NXT TakeOver: XXX event. The former NXT Champion beat McAfee from Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.
Following the match, various fans praised McAfee for his performance in the contest. McAfee noted in an interview with ESPN that he has no plans to return to the ring, at least for now.
This was a one-off match as McAfee revealed that he’s not under contract with the company nor does he have any more commitments to NXT, but didn’t close the door on a possible return for a second match.
“So for when it came to the match on Saturday, I was only focused on that match. I was only focused on, “OK, how do I go in here, put on a hell of a show, hell of a fight and get a win? And then, we’ll worry about everything after that on Sunday.” We’ll cross that bridge whenever we get to it. And I’ve heard the conversation start all around me and there was a lot… even my mom was asking, “Well, are you going to do this again?” I’m like, “Well, let’s worry about that on Sunday.”
And then I got to Sunday, obviously, and I woke up. Neck was sore, back was sore, foot was sore. I got flipped on my head. To be completely honest, I’m not 100% sure what’s going to happen. I’m not under contract to do anything else with Mr. H. I assume he and I will talk about this at some point because I heard his comments in the press conference afterwards, which were very nice.”
McAfee also noted that his goal was to put on a performance that showed respect to the business, which he thinks he did just that. When watching the match back, he did realize that he made some mistakes in the contest but also heard so many positive things from wrestlers.
Thus, he felt validation for his performance and ultimately showed respect to the business. Check out the full interview here.
