Pat McAfee on appearing in the Royal Rumble match

In an interview after the 2024 WWE Royal Rumble PLE, Pat McAfee commented on his appearance in the men’s Rumble match…

“Coming back to get a chance to be in front of the WWE Universe is an absolute honor. I was told, ‘Hey, Pat, you wanna come back and commentate?’ I said, hell yes. The Royal Rumble, what an event. Stories can be written, where dreams can come true. ‘You want to commentate?’ I said, ‘Hell yeah,’ work with Michael Cole, the greatest of all time, alongside Corey Graves with a fresh baby, fresh mindset, fresh haircut. I said, ‘I would love to do that.’”

“All of a sudden, what, 22, I’m in the Royal Rumble? Nobody gave me a heads-up about that,” McAfee claims. “I got my cowboy boots on. Michael Cole let me go in there. That was rude of him. I thought we were friends. Then there was a thing in there. Seven foot three, okay? You’re just looking up at a statue of a being. I see little Bron Breakker go like barking at me. I’m like, I’m not supposed to be in here. Why would I be in here right now? I’m not prepared for this. Also, who would I be to take a main event at WrestleMania spot away from somebody? So I got my ass out of there. Now I went back in because I thought to myself, ‘wait a minute, am I just gonna be a coward?’ I realized quickly, ‘Yeah, I think tonight I am.’ I went right back to the booth. And it was great. It was a great show.” (quotes courtesy of Fightful.com)