Nick Khan Says Pat McAfee’s WWE Return Is Imminent—Right in Time for WrestleMania Season
WWE President Nick Khan all but confirmed what fans have been chanting for weeks: Pat McAfee is coming back to the announce desk. The timeline? As soon as college football slows to a crawl.
The Conversation That Lit the Beacon
On today’s Pat McAfee Show (Dec. 3), Khan ribbed McAfee about returning to WWE, prompting Pat to fire back with a simple, decisive: “I am ready.” Khan joked he’d gotten a half-dozen texts asking him to press the question (McAfee playfully called kayfabe on the number), then delivered the money quote:
“We’re going to bring you back. I know you and I are going to sit together once college football slows.”
With conference title games this weekend and bowls up next, the runway is clear for a Rumble-season comeback—potentially lining up for that January stadium show in Saudi Arabia—rolling straight into WrestleMania season.
Why McAfee Matters at the Desk
Love him or not, McAfee’s live-wire energy and bromantic chemistry with Michael Cole turned the announce table into must-listen radio. He’s been Cole’s on-air bodyguard and hype man—famously confronting Gunther the night after WrestleMania 41—and he’s no stranger to lacing the boots either.
The In-Ring Résumé (Yep, He Can Go)
- WrestleMania wins: The Miz, Austin Theory
- Premium Live Events: Beat Baron Corbin at SummerSlam 2022
- NXT highlights: Banged with Adam Cole (TakeOver XXX, L), led “Kings of NXT” into WarGames against Undisputed Era (L)
- One-off WWE pops: Surprise appearances, including a Wrestlepalooza cameo in September
Khan’s on-air nod plus McAfee’s “I’m ready” feels like the green light everyone was waiting for.
🗣️ Wrestling.news | Backstage Take
McAfee is a crowd accelerator—he makes hot shows hotter and middling segments feel alive. Sliding him back beside Cole before the Rumble is a layup for WWE’s momentum graph, and it gives Raw/SmackDown a signature sound heading into the biggest quarter of the year. If Pat sprinkles in a few storyline dust-ups (a Gunther receipt, an LA Knight verbal sprint, or a surprise Rumble desk-to-ring moment), you’ve got lightning in a headset.
