Pat McAfee Addresses WWE In-Ring Return Match Against GUNTHER

Pat McAfee has addressed his WWE in-ring return, sharing his thoughts on his loss to GUNTHER at Backlash.

After recently standing up for Michael Cole, McAfee stepped into the ring with the Ring General on May 10, ultimately losing the match via submission.

Speaking on the Pat McAfee Show, McAfee watched back clips from the match while adding his own insights.

Discussing the bout, he said:

We absolutely fought it out. I don’t know how many people were in the crowd, I think I heard a number like sixteen thousand, seventeen thousand. I want to say thank you to all of them because this went on a lot longer than I expected it to be. I was planning on going in like Mike Tyson and (getting an) early knockout to try to win this thing.

I laid in some kicks on him, I feel good about the strength in my leg. My entire chest there is the color of a tomato for a good reason, because he had been beating me down a lot.

Him kicking out at one to my punt was certainly something.

At the end, GUNTHER showed a little bit of respect. I feel pretty proud of what I did, not only for myself and Michael Cole but for society as well.

To GUNTHER’s credit, him giving me the little head nod at the end, I think he acknowledged what happened. I think he actually was waiting until it was on camera to do that. I think he was asking the ref, ‘Hey, I would like people to see this.’

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You can watch a clip of McAfee walking through the match below.

Pat McAfee has also teased “starting anew” following Backlash, which you can read more about right here.

Pat McAfee comments after his match against GUNTHER at WWE Backlash, and the respect from GUNTHER after the match

"I think he actually was waiting until it was on camera to do that. I think he was asking the ref, 'Hey, I would like people to see this'."pic.twitter.com/hA8GPhzUqO

— WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) May 12, 2025