Pat McAfee has commented on what WWE originally had planned for him at the Royal Rumble where he made his surprise return.
The SmackDown announcer revealed today on his radio show that he was supposed to be in the men’s Royal Rumble match. He had been away since last September due to his commitments to ESPN’s College GameDay
He said his goal was to enter the Rumble match but decided against it because he felt he wasn’t in good enough shape to do so.
The Moment
“A lot of people thought I was going to be in the Royal Rumble, a lot of people thought that I was going to be there. That was not figured out until late last week. I mean, that really came together pretty quick. Not that there was any bad relations or anything, it’s just my schedule for the last five months and everybody’s schedule, especially in WWE… My wife’s pregnant, with what the schedule was… There was no bad beef or anything. It was just like ‘I don’t want to have to train enough to go into that Royal [Rumble].’
McAfee stated that when he left, the company thought the Rumble was the perfect time to return.
“They said immediately, Hunter and everybody and Nick, and Stephanie at the time, were like, ‘You know, Rumble, that’s like a perfect time to come back because that’s when people come back, and it’s after college football season or whatever.’ And I was like ‘perfect, alright’ because I actually need something to keep me in shape. I always get fat. I actually need something to keep working out for and I tried. Everybody saw me, I was getting after it there.”
McAfee praised Kevin Dunn and other people in WWE for keeping his return a secret. He had also kept his return a secret from Michael Cole, who has become good friends with the former NFL punter.
McAfee also noted that he had an issue with his plan and other travel arrangements had to be made so he arrived to the venue less than 30 minutes before the event started.
H/T to F4Wonline.com
