Pat McAfee appears as guest commentator at WWE Royal Rumble

Originally posted on F4WOnline.com | By Joseph Currier | Last updated 1/27/24

For the second straight year, Pat McAfee dropped by the Royal Rumble to do commentary.

Saturday night's event opened with McAfee joining Michael Cole and Corey Graves at the commentary desk. It was said that McAfee would be a special guest commentator for the night. The show then opened with the women's Royal Rumble match.

Welcome back, Pat!@PatMcAfeeShow is here at #RoyalRumble! pic.twitter.com/T5Wr2UH8de
— WWE (@WWE) January 28, 2024

McAfee's appearance on commentary at the 2023 Royal Rumble was a surprise even to Michael Cole. This time, Cole said he knew in advance that McAfee would be there. McAfee had originally been discussed as an entrant for last year's men's Rumble match but wasn't able to get in ring shape due to his schedule.

From April 2021 to September 2022, McAfee worked as a full-time commentator on SmackDown. He departed the role after joining ESPN's College GameDay. McAfee later expanded his relationship with ESPN when he brought his sports talk show to the network.

McAfee has remained part of WWE despite leaving commentary. He appeared at Fastlane and WrestleMania last year, along with showing up alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson on SmackDown last September.

Cole and Graves called Friday night's episode of SmackDown together. Kevin Patrick, who had been Graves' broadcast partner on SmackDown, was released by WWE earlier in the week.

This article first appeared on F4WOnline.com and was syndicated with permission.

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