Pat McAfee made his return to WWE on Saturday night, joining the commentary team for the Wrestlepalooza premium live event.
Appearing in his former hometown of Indianapolis, McAfee joined Michael Cole and Wade Barrett at the announce desk to call the show.
The appearance was his first for the company since June. He arrived in Indianapolis after broadcasting from Miami for ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ earlier in the day.
McAfee, a former NFL punter for the Indianapolis Colts, first began working with WWE as an analyst on NXT pre-shows.
He later moved to the main roster as a commentator for SmackDown in April 2021. He has taken multiple breaks from WWE to focus on his duties with ESPN.
The opening of Wrestlepalooza also featured the debut of a new version of WWE’s “Then. Now. Forever. Together” signature video. The updated opening is still voiced by Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
Then. Now. Forever. Together.
Welcome to Wrestlepalooza. Welcome to ESPN.
Stream Wrestlepalooza RIGHT NOW on the @espn App ▶️: https://t.co/jKAIj8nxxt pic.twitter.com/LDR90qYXMd
— WWE (@WWE) September 20, 2025
Following the video, Levesque appeared in the ring to welcome the audience to the first premium live event of the company’s new partnership with ESPN.
