Pat McAfee has taken hits before but even by his standards, WrestleMania 42 did enough for him to walk away. Because this time, the concern wasn’t just bruised ribs or a sore ego, it was his neck. It was a grim moment when he got stretchered away which is why, when he finally popped up with a health update, people leaned in.

“I got my scans back after a hellacious WrestleMania Saturday,” Pat McAfee said in an Instagram update on April 21. 

He walked everyone through that moment in classic McAfee fashion with half storytelling and half stand-up set. A Cross Rhodes from Cody Rhodes followed by a Jelly Roll splash through the announcer table.

“Whole body goes lifeless,” he recounted. “I get to the back, turns out, just need a little bit of coverage for your neck. I run back out there. One, two, and then Randy Orton RKOs me. Bang, another neck thing. I thought for sure I was gonna have a C2 to C5 problem.  Got scans back this morning, live from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Guess what? We’re clear.”

And just like that, the tension around his neck injury snapped. Still, if you watched that WrestleMania sequence unfold, you knew Pat McAfee was absorbing real punishment in a main event that spiraled into chaos before the opening bell even rang. It started with Cody Rhodes planting him on the commentator table, then Jelly Roll crashed the scene and drove him through the table with an elbow drop. 

At that point, the stretcher made sense but he came back with a neck brace on, still wobbling as the replacement referee in the middle of an Undisputed WWE Championship match. But then Randy Orton flipped the script and dropped him with an RKO. And that’s how Pat McAfee’s night went from guest appearance to full-contact survival show. He didn’t sugarcoat the aftermath either. 

“Got some cuts and bruises, too,” he said. “Hand right here, cut. I think that’s because the table exploded. I got some shrapnel, and somehow I got a splinter in my crotch. I think it’s because of what happened to the table. There was a lot that happened out there, and I did want to let everybody know that I am okay, just in case people were worried, because I did seem lifeless there for a bit.”

And yet, buried in all the chaos, Pat McAfee still found a takeaway. The mission, as he framed it, was Randy Orton “saving the business.” That didn’t quite happen because Cody Rhodes proved he didn’t need saving. He took the hits, wore the damage, and still stood tall. 

“Cody Rhodes was obviously very admirable,” he said. “Randy Orton is still everything that I said he was, but the good news is the business doesn’t need to be saved after all.”

That night forced one decision from Pat McAfee who didn’t just walk away from WrestleMania with a clean health.

Pat McAfee steps away as his wife breathes a sigh of relief

Pat McAfee is calling wrestling quits but if you want to understand how real WrestleMania got, start with Samantha McAfee’s Instagram post. Her husband, laid out on a couch with a neck brace, is finally still.

“First morning since 2017 babe is completely out of the wrestling business, thanks @jellyroll615,” she wrote.

There’s relief in her words despite crediting the man who nearly broke her husband’s neck. Pat McAfee’s WWE run, from analyst to commentator to in-ring performer, was never supposed to go this far. But like most things in his career, it snowballed as one appearance turned into another. Then came the matches, then moments like this with very grave consequences. 

Now, Pat McAfee will be focused on his ESPN role, which got an upgrade in March. His role is set to grow in the 2026 season with NFL free agency coverage, bigger interviews, and more safety. And for Samantha, who’s expecting a baby boy this June, his decision might just be the most relieving one.