Posted in: Fox, Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: fox, Friday Night SmackDown, pat mcafee, saudi arabia, SiriusXM, Smackdown, The Pat McAfee Show, wrestling, wwe, wwe crown jewel, wwe smackdown

SmackDown's Pat McAfee Wasn't Invited To WWE's Saudi Arabia Show

SmackDown on Fox's Pat McAfee has quickly become WWE's most outrageous and popular current commentator.  Every Friday night, he's amped-up, outspoken, and has more charisma and energy than most of the current roster.  It is for all these reasons that fans are very surprised that the company has not invited McAfee to join them and take his place at the commentary table on their upcoming trip to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the WWE's divisive recurring show there, WWE Crown Jewel 2021.

Pat McAfee himself addressed this on his SiriusXM/YouTube radio show, The Pat McAfee Show this Wednesday when he was in the middle of explaining the recently concluded 2021 WWE Draft and segued into mentioning WWE Crown Jewel.  A co-host asked if he was heading to Saudi Arabia for the show and after answering no, McAfee responded with the following (h/t Fightful):

"They're heading over there. I wasn't invited. Good luck. I'm not supposed to be part of that, I'm happy I'm not going or whatever. The show, everyone says it's insane over there. It's awesome. Until they get stuck there and then I gotta call Buffalo SmackDown."

When you listen to his statement on it, you can sense a little bite from Pat McAfee in his response.  He doesn't sound like he necessarily wants to go, but rather that he gives off the vibe that maybe he doesn't agree with WWE doing the shows there, to begin with (sharing that opinion with MANY WWE fans due to Saudi Arabia's continued human rights issues).

He also refers to the infamous situation after the WWE Crown Jewel event that took place on October 31, 2019, when nearly 200 WWE wrestlers and crew members were held at the airport tarmac (rumored to be because of a money battle between Vince McMahon and the Saudi Arabian government) and were not permitted to leave for almost 24 hours.

The next night's live episode of SmackDown in Buffalo, NY was thrown into chaos with much of the talent and crew being held on the other side of the world.  This episode ended up being Pat McAfee's first night on commentary for the blue brand and the rest is history.

To hear Pat McAfee's comments for yourself, view the link below.

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