Sports this 'n' that

 It was a busy day for Pat McAfee on Saturday.

The day started in Miami for College GameDay, during which McAfee helped beat the drums for WWE Wrestlepalooza later that night in his hometown of Indianapolis, airing on ESPN's new streaming service. Before GameDay signed off just after noon (ET), McAfee stripped down to his briefs for a stunt that had him doing a pencil dive into a pool after picking Miami over Florida in that night's game.

But, ESPN's court jester wasn't done yet.

Instead, McAfee flew home so he could appear at Wrestlepalooza to call a couple of matches, having changed outfits in the interim. He likely won't be back with WWE full time for a while.

The event also marked the return of Wade Barrett after a couple of weeks off, necessitated by an angle on Smackdown that resulted in announcer and former wrestler Corey Graves taking 2 F-5's from Brock Lesnar in an unhinged attack at the start of Friday's show. Lesnar defeated John Cena in the opener, and, prior to the match, reunited with on-again, off-again manager Paul Heyman, which has some fans speculating that Lesnar will join Seth Rollins' stable, The Vision, in time for WarGames at Survivor Series Thanksgiving weekend in San Diego.

The other half of The Vision, Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed, defeated the Usos in the next match, which saw Jey end up in the concussion protocol. This was a booking mistake, as the heels should've lost the match. 

Then, things got better.

Stephanie Vaquer, a year removed from her debut in NXT, captured the vacant women's world title by defeating Iyo Sky (formerly Io Shirai). The title was vacated when Naomi (Trinity Fatu) had to give up the title due to her pregnancy (Jimmy Uso is her husband). Thus Vaquer, the first Chilean born champion in WWE history, joins a growing list of wrestlers who've held both the NXT & WWE titles. To wit:

Women:

Stephanie Vaquer.

Iyo Sky/Io Shirai.

Tiffany Stratton.

Becky Lynch.

Rhea Ripley.

Sasha Banks (Mercedes Mone in AEW).

Bayley.

Asuka.

Kairi Sane.

Men:

Seth Rollins.

Big E.

Kevin Owens.

Rollins, the current men's world champion, and Lynch, the current women's Intercontinental champion, fell in defeat to CM Punk & his wife, the returning AJ Lee, in a mixed tag co-feature. In the finale, Cody Rhodes retained his title over Drew McIntyre, then was confronted by the greedy Rollins in a post-show angle.

Fans are growing increasingly upset with the greed of WWE's corporate parent, TKO Holdings/Endeavor Entertainment, with the shift in streaming from Peacock (which will still have streaming rights for NXT) to ESPN. The days of having no monopolies in business, unfortunately, are over, thanks to a certain fellow in Washington.....!

One big surprise on the Wrestlepalooza card saw Undertaker, now a brand ambassador for the company, ride out to ringside, where Stephanie McMahon(-Levesque) was sitting. Turns out the former executive is the first name announced for the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame, with the induction ceremony set for April in Las Vegas. Stephanie thus joins her husband, Paul "Triple H" Levesque, in the Hall, and he's been inducted twice, as a solo act and as a member of DX.

Congratulations, Steph.

Earlier Saturday, AEW held All Out in Toronto. The main event saw "Hangman" Adam Page retain the World title by defeating TNT champion Kyle Fletcher in a match where Fletcher's manager, Don Callis, and his stable were banned from ringside under penalty of Fletcher losing via DQ and being stripped of his title.

AEW also crowned a new women's champion, as Kris Statlander unseated "Timeless" Toni Storm, amid speculation that the new champ could still join the faction that refuses to go away, the Death Riders, who recently added Buffalo native Daniel Garcia to their ranks.

If there is a flaw with owner-head booker Tony Khan, it's that with storylines like the Death Riders, he just doesn't know how to end them.

There are college coaches on the hot seat after a month of action.

Clemson's Dabo Swinney is feeling the heat after the Tigers were blown off the field at home by Syracuse, less than 24 hours after Mike Gundy & Oklahoma State lost to Tulsa. The fans are understandably restless, but someone should explain to these folks that everything in sports runs in cycles. Comes with the territory, you know.