Pat McAfee discusses WWE's influence on his life
Former NFL punter and future WWE NXT competitor Pat McAfee opened up about the influence that WWE and professional wrestling has had on his life.
During a recent interview with ESPN, Pat McAfee spoke about his memories of WWE's Attitude Era, as well as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and D-Generation X.
"I think anybody who's my age, in their late 20s, early 30s, the Attitude Era, the Monday Night Wars, just captivated all of pop culture. I mean, I remember getting an in-school suspension for doing the D-Generation X 'suck it' chops. I remember trying to Stone Cold-stun kids. I remember trying to cut a promo like The Rock in English class,"
Pat McAfee will have his first match ever inside of a WWE ring this Saturday at NXT TakeOver: XXX against Adam Cole. McAfee and Cole have been at war for the last few weeks on various episodes of NXT as well as McAfee's Sirius XM radio show The Pat McAfee Show.
Pat McAfee on 'The Monday Night Wars'
Continuing to reminisce about his love for professional wrestling, Pat McAfee also discussed his experiences watching both WWE Monday Night RAW and WCW Monday Nitro, as well as NFL Monday Night Football, as a young child.
"Monday nights, I obviously watched Monday Night Football because I come from Pittsburgh, a big football town, big football family, but boy, it was beautiful when I could bounce back and forth from Monday Night Football to Monday Night Raw to Nitro. Those were just some of my favorite times. And to be honest, ever since those days, if you talked to anybody, I've always said that I thought I was put on this earth to be a professional wrestler."
When asked about how iconic WWE Superstars such as The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin shaped his NFL on-field persona, Pat McAfee admitted that WWE Superstars absolutely influenced his personality.
"If I was to say that The Rock, Stone Cold and them didn't help shape my personality and the human I am, I'd be lying. Then, in turn, you're seeing natural reactions from me in a lot of situations that aren't normal to everybody else, I guess.
Are you excited to see Pat McAfee take on Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver XXX? Who do you think will leave NXT TakeOver victorious?