WWE has officially announced who will be filling in for Pat McAfee on the next episode of Raw as the Corey Graves situation remains ongoing.
As announced ahead of time, McAfee will not be in attendance for the January 20th episode of Monday Night Raw in Dallas, Texas. The reason for the absence is that the announcer will be in Atlanta, Georgia as part of the College Football National Championship final between Ohio State and Notre Dame. As part of the extensive ESPN coverage, McAfee will be a part of the show Field Pass and will be on the sidelines at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta to give his perspective on the game:
Returning in 2025, the fan favorite Field Pass will lead the MegaCast offerings from this year’s National Championship on ESPN2. Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show will offer entertaining, free-flowing commentary of the CFP National Championship Game, anchored by Pat McAfee, who will roam the sidelines of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
McAfee will call the action from the unique vantage point, joined by AJ Hawk, Darius Butler, Connor Campbell, Ty Schmit and Tone Digs, as well as a rotation of ESPN analysts, notable personalities, and celebrities throughout the game. Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show delivered the largest audience for any ESPN alternate telecast on record with 2.4 million viewers from the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential.
With McAfee in Atlanta, Wade Barrett stated on the January 17th SmackDown that he would be reuniting with Michael Cole to call the action on Monday Night Raw for one night only. McAfee is expected to return to Raw the following week. It was previously speculated that Hall of Famer JBL could be McAfee’s replacement as the former WWE Champion has been announced to appear live on the show.
Pat McAfee To Miss Raw As Corey Graves Controversy Continues
While McAfee missing an episode of Raw would not normally be notable, the update comes a few days after the drama concerning fellow WWE announcer Corey Graves, who expressed his frustrations online at “not being famous enough” to commentate on a main roster show in a since-deleted social media post. Graves was recently moved to NXT at the start of the year and it remains unknown when he will return to main roster programming. After teasing that he would speak his mind on the January 14th NXT, it was reported that Corey Graves would not be appearing on the show just a few hours before NXT went on air. It remains unknown when or if Graves will be back on TV. Graves has not provided any follow-up comments since.
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