When Pat McAfee‘s music hit for the second time at the Royal Rumble, with his name appearing on the screen with a number 22 in front of it, it signified that the All-Pro punter-turned-media superstar had a chance, no matter how small, to win the match and punch his ticket to WrestleMania 40 for a main event spot against either Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns, depending on his choice.

Now granted, that chance disappeared in less than a minute, as McAfee opted to eliminate himself instead of being violently thrown over the top rope by someone like Bron Breakker or Omos, but still, for a few seconds at least, the WWE Universe was his oyster, and thoughts had to race about what the future could look like for the 36-year-old former commentator.

Discussing how he would have handled being the top dog in WWE had he actually won the match on his ESPN show, McAfee let it be known that he did, in fact, have a champion in mind that he would have happily challenged at the show, even if, again, it was severely improbable.

“A lot of people just assume I would go right at the big Uce, Roman Reigns,” Pat McAfee said via Fightful. “Nope. Seth ‘Freakin' Rollins, I'm coming at you pal. I don't want to dance with Roman, and Seth has a knee (injury). By the way, (I) don't deserve the opportunity, don't desire the opportunity. Would love to watch everything that takes place. You pick Seth because of the knee thing, but Cody wants to finish the Universal (Title) story.”

Does McAfee's decision make sense? Totally, he currently holds good standing within The Bloodline and would have surely lost both Roman Reigns and his “Wise Man” Paul Heyman as future guests on the show had he challenged for a spot at the “Head of the Table.” Factor in Rollins' injuries, and who knows, maybe McAfee would have become a champion after all?

Pat McAfee reveals how his surprise Rumble returns came together.

After making not one but two surprise returns at the Royal Rumble, Pat McAfee stopped by the backstage area to discuss his experience in St. Petersburg with Cathy Kelley.

Despite being incredibly busy with all of his other commitments, McAfee couldn't turn down a chance to call another match with Michael Cole and Corey Graves, as it remains one of his favorite things to do.

“Yeah, coming back to get a chance to be in front of the WWE Universe is an absolute honor,” Pat McAfee told Cathy Kelley via Fightful. “I was told, ‘Hey, Pat, you wanna come back and commentate?' I said, ‘H*ll yes.' The Royal Rumble, what an event. Stories can be written, where dreams can come true. ‘You want to commentate?' I said, ‘H*ll yeah,' work with Michael Cole, the greatest of all time, alongside Corey Graves with a fresh baby, fresh mindset, fresh haircut. I said, ‘I would love to do that.'”

Asked how his surprise in-ring return came out, becoming the surprise 22nd entrant in the match despite not being dressed for the occasion, McAfee noted his inclusion was a total surprise, as he did not expect to wrestle in Florida on that Saturday night.

“All of a sudden, what, 22, I'm in the Royal Rumble? Nobody gave me a heads-up about that. I got my cowboy boots on,” Pat McAfee said. “Michael Cole let me go in there. That was rude of him. I thought we were friends. Then there was a thing in there. Seven foot three, okay? You're just looking up at a statue of a being. I see little Bron Breakker go like barking at me. I'm like, I'm not supposed to be in here. Why would I be in here right now? I'm not prepared for this. Also, who would I be to take a main event at WrestleMania spot away from somebody? So I got my a** out of there. Now I went back in because I thought to myself, wait a minute, am I just gonna be a coward? “I realized quickly, ‘Yeah, I think tonight I am.' I went right back to the booth. And it was great. It was a great show.”

Alright, did McAfee actually not know he was going to take part in the Royal Rumble? Fans may never know, as frankly, it could have gone either way depending on how Paul “Triple H” Levesque decided to handle his booking decisions, but considering he likely had an earpiece with the folks in Gorilla Position telling him what to do, it's safe to say the spot produced its desired effect.