In an interview following the 2024 WWE Royal Rumble PLE, Pat McAfee commented on his appearance in the men’s Rumble.
“Coming back to get a chance to be in front of the WWE Universe is an absolute honor. I was told, ‘Hey, Pat, you wanna come back and commentate?’ I said, hell yes. The Royal Rumble, what an event. Stories can be written, where dreams can come true. ‘You want to commentate?’ I said, ‘Hell yeah,’ work with Michael Cole, the greatest of all time, alongside Corey Graves with a fresh baby, fresh mindset, fresh haircut. I said, ‘I would love to do that.’”
“All of a sudden, what, 22, I’m in the Royal Rumble? Nobody gave me a heads-up about that. I got my cowboy boots on. Michael Cole let me go in there. That was rude of him. I thought we were friends. Then there was a thing in there. Seven foot three, okay? You’re just looking up at a statue of a being. I see little Bron Breakker go like barking at me. I’m like, I’m not supposed to be in here. Why would I be in here right now? I’m not prepared for this. Also, who would I be to take a main event at WrestleMania spot away from somebody? So I got my ass out of there. Now I went back in because I thought to myself, ‘wait a minute, am I just gonna be a coward?’ I realized quickly, ‘Yeah, I think tonight I am.’ I went right back to the booth. And it was great. It was a great show.”
(quotes courtesy of Fightful.com)