During a recent interview with ESPN, Pat McAfee commented on being “put on earth to be a professional wrestler”, the Monday Night Wars, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On being a wrestling fan during the Monday Night Wars: “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.”
On how he thinks he was put on earth to be a professional wrestler: “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.”
On how the Rock and Steve Austin helped shape 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. I feel like, I guess being a punter and being a little bit over-the-top or celebrating or showing a personality when that position doesn’t normally do it, it wasn’t really like me trying to do something to put myself over. I think it was just naturally what I was doing. And I think that is why I’ve always thought, ‘I’m probably supposed to be a wrestler,’ because I wear my emotions on my sleeve. I feel like I’m a pretty good talker and a pretty good athlete.”
