Pat McAfee Explains His WWE Absence, ‘I Hit A Wall’
Pat McAfee hasn’t been on commentary for WWE since WWE Money in the Bank, first showing up absent on the June 9th episode of WWE Raw.
McAfee previously explained that he was getting exhausted, which is why he took a step back.
On Wednesday’s Pat McAfee Show, he further detailed his reason for stepping away from WWE.
“I got really tired. I hit [a wall]. I’ve been going since Dublin. They started Raw early, and I’m like an energy guy. I don’t need a lot of sleep. I just got to Money in the Bank in LA and I was on the East Coast for TST, then I went down to Paris Island, then I went to LA for Money in the Bank, and I could just feel it. ‘Oh my God, my brain is not operating right now.’ I talked to others that maybe experienced mental exhaustion before whenever they had it. I talked to them and been like, ‘I’m staring down what you went through. I knew this moment was going to happen at some point.’ It happens to people. I talked to people about it happening and what they went through when it happened. As Money in the Bank was happening, I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is it. I have finally hit it.’ I never thought it was going to happen. You add in my daughter and wanting to be around. The daily show, the travel. Also, trying my best, I know a lot of wrestling fans don’t think this, but I was trying to put everybody over. Maximum effort, every time, trying to put people over. I think that with the travel, me not getting back to 2-3 AM on Monday. That’s the beginning of our work week Tuesday – Friday, I have 12 hours left of being on,” he said.
McAfee said Nick Khan helped him get out of his WWE obligations.
Asked how he got through the exhaustion, McAfee said, “We still have to do a show. I stopped going to Monday Night Raw, so that took away two planes and a two hour sleep a night week away from the schedule. Stacked a couple of those weeks.”
He continued, speaking on how the WWE product hasn’t suffered without him.
“Corey Graves, so good. Wade Barrett, so good. For me, at the commentator position, the show moves on regardless. The ability to not feel absolutely fucking terrible for having to take a step back because I’m tired, WWE on the other side, they have such a hard work and travel mindset, they understand. They’ve been great. I will always love the WWE. I miss it, but I don’t think I would have made it,” he said.
McAfee is set to be part of the College GameDay panel beginning on August 30th.
Barrett filled in for McAfee during the first week of his absence, but Graves has called the action alongside Cole in the ensuing weeks.
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