‘Pat’s Got An Ego’ – Michael Cole ‘Glad’ Pat McAfee Returned To WWE For WrestleMania 42, But ‘Not Sure How I Feel About The Way He Returned’

WWE

WWE announcer Michael Cole has commented on his former broadcast partner Pat McAfee returning in the Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes WrestleMania feud.

For several years, Cole and McAfee were the commentary team for WWE SmackDown and later Raw on Netflix before McAfee departed the role last year.

He has now returned to WWE, this time as the cornerman for Randy Orton as he heads into the WrestleMania 42 night one main event against Cody Rhodes.

The move has drawn a lot of criticism from fans and pundits, who believe McAfee’s involvement to be out of placed and forced by WWE parent company Endeavor and TKO CEO Ari Emanuel, who just so happens to also be McAfee’s agent.

In an interview on ESPN Sportscenter, Michael Cole, who will no doubt be leading the announce team for WrestleMania once again this year, commented on McAfee’s recent comeback.

“It’s no secret how I feel about Pat. Pat and I were extremely close, we called many shows together. Many believe that we were one of the top commentary teams in all of wrestling, which I was very flattered about.

“But I’m sort of taken aback at what Pat has done here. I never expected in a million years for Pat to come out the way that he did, align himself with Randy Orton in this very personal affair.

“I’m glad that Pat’s back involved with WWE, I’m just not quite sure how I feel yet about the way that he returned.

“I think that Pat, in his mind, believes that he and Randy Orton are going to change the wrestling business the way that it is. And I believe they think they’re going to change things for the better. I don’t quite believe that.

“I think Pat also enjoys the spotlight, I think Pat’s got an ego as people that are close to him know. I think he likes to be close to the main event part of WrestleMania. He’s wrestled at WrestleMania in the past. He likes to be a part of this.

“And honestly, as a company, we love to have Pat involved. Pat is just such an exciting individual, he is someone who loves this business so much, and despite what some may think about how he’s handling himself in this situation, I think it’s a great thing for our company to have Pat involved.”

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WWE WrestleMania 42 Commentary Team

While previous years saw WWE rotate the commentary team during WrestleMania depending on whether a particular match featured talent from Raw or SmackDown, the past few years have seen the same team call every match on both nights for the entirety of the event.

This year, if that trend continues, it will most likely be Michael Cole leading the charge, flanked by his Raw partner Corey Graves as well as SmackDown’s Wade Barrett.

Last year, Graves missed out on WrestleMania after he was moved to NXT for a few months, and the team was Cole, Barrett and Pat McAfee instead.

Cole, Graves and Barrett is the most likely team this year, but it also wouldn’t hurt for Cole to sit out a match here or there with SmackDown lead announcer Joe Tessitore getting the chance to make his WrestleMania commentary debut after a standout first couple of years with WWE.

However, if that doesn’t happen, Tessitore will undoubtedly have a role in hosting the variety of pre and post shows surrounding WrestleMania itself.

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• wwe
• WrestleMania
• michael cole
• pat mcafee

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