Pat McAfee announced WWE superstar Sheamus will serve as the celebrity guest picker. Credit: WWE
By Ben Axelrod on

During what marked his final episode of WWE Raw “for a while,” Pat McAfee used his current gig to promote his next. Just ahead 0f a match between Sheamus and Pete Dunne, the former All-Pro punter announced that the former will serve as the guest picker for the Week 0 episode of ESPN’s College GameDay, which will air live from Dublin, Ireland on Saturday.

“It’s an absolute honor to be a part of College GameDay. And obviously being on the program, I get to answer some questions like, ‘The first international show of all-time is in Dublin, Ireland, who should be the guest picker?'” McAfee, who is entering his third year as a full-time analyst on GameDay, said. “I said, ‘Bang! Give me Sheamus! So the redheaded fella will be picking games and having a blast in Dublin on Saturday.”

Sheamus has a natural connection to Dublin, as “The Celtic Warrior” is a native of Ireland’s capital. He’s also a publicly identifiable college football fan, having made multiple appearances for  Notre Dame, including one to help unveil the green jerseys the Fighting Irish will wear when they face Louisville on Sept. 24.

WWE getting one of its stars in a premier spot like the first College GameDay episode of the season isn’t just big from a publicity standpoint, but also speaks to the pro wrestling promotion’s current mainstream appeal. There have been several WWE-ESPN crossovers in recent months, with Joe Tessitore set to begin his tenure as the lead announcer for Raw on Sept. 2, multiple wrestlers appearing on ESPN airwaves in the leadup to SummerSlam and, of course, McAfee, who announced earlier on Monday that this episode of Raw will mark his last for a while as he focuses on College GameDay.

It’s also worth noting that ESPN is the media rightsholder for WWE’s TKO sister company, UFC, and that the wrestling promotion’s president is former sports media super agent Nick Khan, who obviously still has plenty of ties to the Worldwide Leader. While ESPN may not be an official WWE partner, you wouldn’t know it by watching its airwaves, with Sheamus’ upcoming appearance and the manner in which it was announced marking the latest examples.

[WWE]

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

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