Pat McAfee will be stepping aside from WWE SmackDown to join ESPN College GameDay

Update on who could replace Pat McAfee on WWE SmackDown

Modified Sep 08, 2022 12:08 GMT

It appears that a familiar face will be replacing Pat McAfee on the commentary team for WWE SmackDown.

Xero News is reporting that Corey Graves will serve as the temporary replacement for McAfee on the blue brand. Graves is currently on the RAW commentary team with Jimmy Smith and Byron Saxton.

As per the reports, he will remain on the commentary team for the red brand and will also reunite with his former broadcast partner Michael Cole on Friday nights for the foreseeable future.

"Source believes for the mean time Corey Graves will end up doing smackdown as well as RAW."

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Xero News

@NewsXero

Source believes for the mean time Corey Graves will end up doing smackdown as well as Raw.

Pat McAfee on temporary leaving WWE to focus on ESPN's College GameDay

On the latest episode of The Pat McAfee Show', the 35-year-old spoke about his decision to step away from the company on a temporary basis.

McAfee explained that he wanted to remain on the SmackDown commentary team and try to do both gigs at the same time. However, WWE didn't think it was such a good idea due to all the travel that would be required for Pat to pull it off. The former punter added that he has nothing but love for the company.

"So the original thought for me was, I could do SmackDown and GameDay. The folks at the WWE... I have nothing but great feelings towards. I reach out to them and chit chat with them, they were the ones who said, ' Hey man, if you're going to do GameDay, which is a great opportunity, congratulations... you cannot be traveling overnight for the entirety of the season. It's not good for your health, your family, it's not good for anything. Whenever the time is right, we'll have you, definitely be back in our family," added McAfee. [From 0:38 to 1:28]

Pat McAfee

@PatMcAfeeShow

SmackDAHN will be on hold for a little bit while I do College GameDay.. I'm still VERY much in the WWE family & will still be doing things with WWE

#PMSLive

In addition to being wildly entertaining in commentary, Pat has shown off his skills as an in-ring competitor. He defeated Austin Theory at WrestleMania 38, only to lose to former CEO Vince McMahon shortly after.

McAfee most recently defeated Happy Corbin at SummerSlam. Time will tell when he will return to SmackDown, but fans will surely welcome him back when he does so.

Do you want someone else to replace Pat on SmackDown? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Edited by
Jeevak Ambalgi