Pat McAfee has further commented on his extended hiatus from the WWE announce desk.
McAfee has been away from WWE TV since June 9, with Wade Barrett and Corey Graves providing colour commentary alongside Michael Cole amid his absence. While McAfee previously stated that exhaustion was the main factor behind taking time away, the Raw commentator has since provided more context.
Addressing the absence on The Pat McAfee Show, McAfee spoke about “hitting a wall” in his professional career, noting that he had been going non-stop since August 2024 with his commitments both in WWE and for ESPN, along with being the parent for a young child:
“I could just feel it. I’m like, ‘Oh my god, my brain is not operating right now.’ I had talked to others that had maybe experienced mental exhaustion before whenever they have had it. I’ve talked to them and I’ve been like, ‘I’m staring down what you went through there’. I knew this moment was coming. I knew it was going to happen at some point and it happens to people. So, I talked to people about it happening and what they went through and as Money in the Bank was happening, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is it, I’ve finally hit it.’”
Pat McAfee WWE Hiatus Continues
Continuing, McAfee stated that he felt honoured to be a part of the WWE family, but cutting it out of his schedule has enabled him to get more control on his life:
“(Raw) is an honor to be a part of, but…I stopped going to Monday night Raw, so that took away two planes and a two-hour sleep night a week away from the schedule. And it was like, stack a couple of weeks, I feel like a human again,”
McAfee also praised WWE for their understanding, noting that he has “the ability to not feel absolutely f**king terrible for having to take a step back because I’m tired.”
Closing out his comments, McAfee admitted that a return to WWE is unlikely to be anytime soon as football season is set to begin in August:
“…I will always love the WWE and I miss it, but I didn’t think I would have made it. I was eyeing football season around the corner and I was, like, ‘I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to survive this thing,’”
It should be noted that while a full-time return looks unlikely, McAfee has made sporadic appearances in the past while on other commitments.
H/t to F4WOnline for the use of transcriptions.
Featured image: WWE
