Pat McAfee was revealed Friday night on SmackDown as Randy Orton’s secret adviser, setting up his role in Orton’s attempt to take down Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 42. McAfee is scheduled to be in Orton’s corner on Saturday, April 18, as the first night of the two-night event gets underway.
Rhodes responded on USA Network with a blistering insult, calling McAfee a “stoner, grifter, Logan Paul-without-muscles, human hat rack fly-by-night” and telling McAfee and those who represent him, “you can kiss my ass.” He added, “Oh no, was that too far? What are gonna do, fire me? It sure worked out for you the last time!”
The attack landed in the middle of a fast-moving buildup that has put McAfee back in the wrestling spotlight. He retired from the NFL in 2017, signed with WWE in 2019 and debuted as a wrestler in 2020, after previously serving as Raw’s babyface announcer. Orton and McAfee do not usually appear on the same WWE show, which makes the pairing a sharp turn in a storyline built around Orton’s effort to topple Rhodes, the company’s top babyface, in the first main event of WrestleMania 42.
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The friction did not stop with Rhodes. On Monday’s Raw, CM Punk called McAfee “Pat MAGA-Fee” and “a buggy-whip-armed, no-brain hillbilly,” then told him, “You think you can come here to the business — my business — of pro wrestling — and run your mouth? Well, you just wrote a check that your narrow ass can’t cash.” Punk also told McAfee to call the agent who “was foolish enough to shoehorn you into this business and this show and tell him to lower the ticket prices,” a reference that, like Rhodes’ comments, appeared aimed at McAfee’s agent, Ari Emanuel.
With McAfee in Orton’s corner on April 18 and WrestleMania 42 continuing the following night, the storyline has become as much about who is trying to steer the fight as the fight itself. Rhodes has already made clear he is treating McAfee as part of the threat, not just a guest at ringside.
