Pat McAfee is fully committed to his new WWE character, and he wasted no time bringing it to his ESPN platform.
Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday, McAfee addressed his surprise alignment with Randy Orton on SmackDown in full heel mode, calling out Cody Rhodes, taking shots at the IWC, and framing his involvement as a mission to restore professional wrestling to what it is supposed to be.
McAfee declared his alliance with Orton as the biggest story in sports over the weekend and went after Rhodes directly, pointing to the ongoing availability of WrestleMania 42 tickets as evidence that his argument has merit.
“Somehow tickets are still available for WrestleMania. Just know that we got some things cooking, and you’re going to want to be in Las Vegas,” McAfee said. “It’s going to be spectacular. It’s going to be special. Future wrestling generation fans will have to look back on the night that was in Las Vegas and say, ‘That was the moment that that GOAT saved the entire business by becoming 15-time World Champion.’ Shout out to Randy Orton. Thank you, Randy, for doing that.”
McAfee called Rhodes a “puppet” champion and described the current state of the wrestling business under his reign as “terrible.” He also brought a personal angle into the segment, mentioning that his daughter is about to turn three years old and that he wants her to grow up as a wrestling fan, but only if the product reflects what he believes it should be. His solution, he said, starts with Orton reclaiming the top spot in the company.
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When it came to the backlash the SmackDown segment received, McAfee did not back down. He went after his critics directly, framing them as part of the very problem he and Orton are trying to solve.
“These IWC dipsh*ts, they have no idea. This is for the good of them,” McAfee said. “They have no idea what they’ve been missing, they have no idea what it’s supposed to look like. Now we change that. They’re not the biggest fans of what happened, they’re pretty upset about it. But they are a part of the problem. They are the ones that said, ‘Yeah, this is what it’s supposed to be, all this stuff.’ It’s like, ‘Nah, let us show you what it’s supposed to be whenever Randy Orton is at the top of the marquee.'”
The Rhodes vs. Orton Undisputed WWE Championship match is expected to main event Night One of WrestleMania 42 on Saturday, April 18 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, with the official night-by-night card breakdown expected to be confirmed on ESPN’s Get Up on Tuesday morning. WrestleMania 42 streams live on the ESPN app in the United States, with the first hour of each night also airing on ESPN’s linear television channel. International markets will have access through Netflix
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