Pat McAfee reacts to ‘WWE: Unreal’ clip, says facing Gunther was an honor

Despite initially being skeptical of the concept, Pat McAfee has enjoyed the inside look that “WWE: Unreal” provides.

Season two of the docuseries arrived on Netflix this week with the first episode spotlighting McAfee as he prepared for his Backlash 2025 match against Gunther. One of the most talked about clips online has been a writers’ room discussion over who should win the match. Bruce Prichard said Gunther winning would be too predictable, but writer Jonathan Baeckstrom pushed back against a McAfee victory, explaining why it would be hard to move forward with Gunther after losing to a color commentator.

McAfee responded to the clip by sharing that he didn’t love the concept of “Unreal” when he first heard about it. But he’s “actually enjoyed” the series and is looking forward to showing it to his children and grandchildren one day, though he joked that he might not let them see this specific discussion about why Gunther should beat him.

“‘Twas an absolute honor to get to share the ring with The Ring General,” McAfee wrote.

“I, like many lifelong marks, didn’t love the #WWEUnreal concept when I heard of it.. I enjoy the suspension of belief and the magic of escape thru professional wrestling. I thought that would get ruined for the next generation of fans.. TBD but, I have a funny suspicion that professional wrestling is always gonna be a-ok.. when it’s done right, there’s not much better ENTERTAINMENT.

“What I’ve realized is I’ve actually enjoyed learning how the sausage is actually made.. I hope the show does good for the business.

“I’m thankful I’ll be able to show my kids and grandkids that I was lucky to do really cool things.. this particular scene will probably not be shown to them [laughs] but; the rest of the episode was really cool to re-live.”

Gunther did end up defeating McAfee at the PLE, which is the most recent time McAfee has competed in the ring. McAfee has been absent from his WWE commentary role since June 2025 due to feeling exhausted and like he had hit a wall with all the work he was doing. He hosts a show on ESPN every weekday and also contributes to the network’s college football coverage.

On “Unreal,” Paul “Triple H” Levesque said he believes a lot of people view McAfee as the face of WWE.

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Joseph Currier
Joseph Currier

Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.

In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.