Pat McAfee Joins WWE SmackDown As New Analyst

Pat McAfee is bringing his talents to a new brand in WWE, as he’s joining SmackDown’s commentary team.

WWE announced that Pat McAfee will debut as the new analyst for Friday Night SmackDown tonight at 8 pm ET live on FOX.

“For as long as I can remember WWE has been a company that I have admired, both for its incredible staying power of creating riveting entertainment and for its ability to connect people all over the globe,” said McAfee. “I’ve been fortunate to try a lot of cool professions but working for WWE was the one I looked forward to most. I am incredibly honored and grateful for the chance to give back to the business that has given me and many others so much and having the opportunity to sit at the same table that legends have graced is truly a dream come true. Now let’s go get it.”

Known for his candid, relatable, and refreshing opinions, McAfee’s insight and sense of humor have built him a large, loyal and active fan base. In addition to being a philanthropist, social media influencer, stand-up comedian and former All-Pro punter for the Indianapolis Colts, McAfee is also the host of the #1 international daily streaming sports show The Pat McAfee Show, which is simulcast both on YouTube and on Sirius XM Channel 82 Mad Dog Sports Radio. Additionally, McAfee is the host of the popular podcast The Pat McAfee Show 2.0 and has performed both inside the ring and behind the microphone on WWE’s NXT.

McAfee will be joined at ringside every week by Michael Cole. Corey Graves, Cole former partner, moved to RAW this week to team with Byron Saxton and Adnan Virk.

McAfee confirmed the news in a video announcement on Friday morning, showing Vince McMahon offering him the gig followed by a personal statement:

The statement at the end of Pat's video announcement…https://t.co/klxBI6J18D pic.twitter.com/8cr1C8gJz0

— WrestleZone (@WRESTLEZONEcom) April 16, 2021

In February, Triple H was asked about McAfee’s status with the company and said the former NFL star’s only limitations were that he’s just a busy guy.“Pat is one of the most successful—and I’d hate to put a title on [all that he does] because I feel like that would limit him,” he started off saying, “Just look at everything he does. As you can imagine going into the playoffs and into the Super Bowl, it was a very busy time for him. Everybody leans into everything and has a take on it and then it runs on the Internet and everybody speculates and Pat loves that. As do we, so his learning about his firing on the air was greatly exaggerated. [laughs]“Pat, he’s a busy dude. We’ve been talking about it and he said, ‘Look give me a moment to breath when the Super Bowl is over,’ cause he just got married not that long ago and he’s like, ‘If I don’t take a breath for a minute after this Super Bowl, I might not be married for that much longer.’ My words, not his—I think he just needed to take a breather. If we can engage here [with him in NXT] back again… he loves it and that’s the one thing I love about Pat. When you have somebody from outside that comes in that loves it, and by outside it’s hard for me to even refer to him as an outsider because he so loves what we do that it’s hard not to see him like an insider.”

(Transcription credit should go to @DominicDeAngelo of WrestleZone)