Ex-NFL star ignites chaos at WWE

Pat McAfee, who was one of the best punters in the NFL at the Indianapolis Colts, seems to be about to make his debut at WWE: attacking Adam Cole on NXT.

As the Indianapolis Colts’ punter, he made it into the Pro Bowl twice in the NFL. As an energetic analyst, podcaster and comedian, he has also gained a large fan base outside the field. Now Pat McAfee is driving another passion forward: he is moving to the centre of the WWE wrestling league.

McAfee has been involved in show fight promotion for several years now, and is mainly used as an analyst for major events. Now WWE – after having let Rob Gronkowski slip through their fingers for the time being – seems to be working towards his wrestling debut: On the NXT squad’s weekly TV show, he attacked in front of ring legends Triple H and Shawn Michael’s ex-champion Adam Cole.

The 33-year-old McAfee was actually the commentator for the main match of NXT, a tag-team title match in which the German-Italian duo Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner defended their belts against Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong, Cole’s colleagues from the Undisputed Era.

Pat McAfee knocks Adam Cole out
The word wars between McAfee and Cole, who have been fighting each other for some time, mainly via social media, soon overshadowed the events in the ring. Annoyed by McAfee’s comments, Cole finally poured a bottle of water over him and a fight broke out.

Several referees and NXT’s behind-the-scenes Michaels and Triple H tried to separate the fighters, but when it seemed they had succeeded, McAfee surprised Cole with a kick to the head, leaving him knocked out.

It may not have been the last thing WWE fans saw in this affair.

The other highlights:
– In the opening match of the evening Mercedes Martinez Dakota Kai helped Dakota Kai win over former ladies’ champion Rhea Ripley and a title match against Io Shirai in the 30th anniversary take-over before the SummerSlam.

– With a win over Oney Lorcan and Ridge Holland, Damian Priest qualified for the ladder match for the vacant North American title, while Dexter Lumis is out of the match due to injury. Due to the cancellation, wrestlers who were not pinned in the qualifying matches will get a second chance – so far Finn Balor, Johnny Gargano and Holland. Next week, Kushida, Cameron Grimes and an as yet unnamed wrestler will fight for third place alongside Priest and Bronson Reed.