Pat McAfee Reiterates He Will Never Return To WWE

Pat McAfee has reiterated he is finished with professional wrestling and he will never appear on WWE's televised programming again.

"If Randy would have won, maybe. But I made a promise that I would never, ever, I will never be seen on WWE television ever again. And Cody Rhodes won. He is the one. What a dog he turned out to be. Maybe he was the right one all along. Maybe I was wrong with what I was saying. But no, wrestling fans can sleep soundly, understanding that I will never be back over there," McAfee stated on Instagram Stories.

As part of the stipulation for the Undisputed WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 42, Pat McAfee announced he would leave pro wrestling if Randy Orton did not defeat Cody Rhodes. Orton ultimately lost to Rhodes and McAfee announced following WrestleMania that he was done with pro wrestling.

The original plan for the WrestleMania 42 night one main event was for Randy Orton to win the Undisputed WWE Title, but those plans changed, with it being noted that Orton was dealing with a significant back injury, while Pat McAfee opted out of continuing to be Orton's manager due to the negative fan reception to McAfee's insertion into the Rhodes vs. Orton programme by TKO CEO Ari Emanuel over the heads of the WWE creative team.

Pat McAfee will continue to be incredibly busy outside of WWE, though. In addition to the Pat McAfee Show and his College GameDay duties with ESPN, it was announced this week that McAfee will join ESPN Monday Night Countdown and serve as a panellist for the pre-game show to Monday Night Football.

It was reported by The Athletic earlier this year that ESPN and Pat McAfee's representatives - Ari Emanuel and TKO President Mark Shapiro - were in talks over a contract extension that would see McAfee earn between $60 million and $65 million per year.

H/T F4WOnline