Pat McAfee’s return was a legitimate surprise.
To kick off the 2023 Royal Rumble Premium Live Event, Pat McAfee made his return to WWE programming and joined Michael Cole and Corey Graves at the announce desk for the entire show.
Per a report from PWInsider, McAfee’s return was a ‘legitimate surprise’. The site notes that majority of the production team was unaware of Pat’s arrival and they scrambled to get him a seat and headset. Cole and Graves were not clued in either and were prepared to call the show as a two-man team.
IT IS GREAT TO BE BACK..
🗣🗣LET'S GOOOOO #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/SOjd3Xs3Xp
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 29, 2023
Before taking on his ESPN College Gameday duties, McAfee was a member of the SmackDown commentary team alongside Michael Cole.
Wade Barrett was moved from the NXT brand onto SmackDown to fill in for McAfee.
