Pat McAfee was reportedly removed from WWE television, according to Dave Meltzer in the latest issue of The Wrestling Observer newsletter. According to Meltzer, the decision was from WWE, not McAffee. It is not known why WWE decided to withdraw it.
There is no timetable for his return, although it has been noted that the impression is that it will be in the spring.
McAfee has only fought twice on the NXT, but received high praise for his performances. Steve Austin appeared on ESPN’s “Monday Tailgate” last week and praised McAfee for his work.
“Hey dude, [McAfee] puts everything at risk, “said Austin.” He’s going for it. You know, basically I think his verbal skills – he’s shooting everybody. But he’s not afraid to go there and put everything at risk, so you wouldn’t expect that from a guy who kicks a football. But Pat McAfee’s badass, I think he’s doing a really, really good job. I give him a solid A. “
CM Punk also recently praised McAfee, saying he is a better promotion than anyone else in WWE.
“A lot of this has to do with the circumstances, but everyone else in the program (s) should be ashamed and, subsequently, USE that feeling to improve themselves, with the fact that @PatMcAfeeShow it’s a better promotion than everyone else on the show (s), “Punk tweeted.” There’s no reason for him to commit himself completely to wrestling. He’s already the best thing in this unnamed show @RheaRipley_WWE“
In an interview with Wrestling Inc. last year, McAfee discussed how he trained for professional wrestling while in the NFL.
“I bought a wrestling ring in my third or fourth year in the league. I had it built in my barn and I didn’t use it much, except at parties where my friends’ kids wanted to get in there,” said McAfee. “As soon as I retired, a guy named Rip Rogers, who used to train at OVW and lives 10 minutes from my house, chatted with me about rasslin ‘. He trained me 3-4 times a week to get in shape and to see whether I wanted to do it, whether I could do it or not. I was getting kicked in the ass, being cut and bruised to the chest, but I was having a blast. “
McAfee last fought in “Takeover: WarGames 2020” earlier this month. McAfee teamed up with Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch in a defeat to Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish in a game of WarGames.
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
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Marc Middleton contributed to this article.