Pat McAfee’s surprise involvement in the Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes feud may have bypassed WWE’s creative team entirely, with new reports indicating the decision came from the very top of TKO’s corporate structure.
According to PWInsider Elite, there is a growing belief within WWE that the call to insert McAfee into the storyline was made on the corporate side rather than by the writers handling weekly television. The move caught some people internally off guard, particularly given how prominently McAfee was featured during the April 3 episode of SmackDown, where he was revealed as Randy Orton’s mystery ally and helped facilitate the latest attack on Cody Rhodes.
BodySlam.net’s reporting goes further, with sources stating directly that this was not a decision made by Triple H or WWE creative but a directive from Ari Emanuel and TKO brass. One source told BodySlam that Emanuel personally believes McAfee is a star who will help elevate the program between Orton and Rhodes and bring it to the level it needs to be heading into WrestleMania 42. The belief at the TKO level is that mainstream names drive eyeballs to the product and help move tickets, a philosophy that has been central to how the parent company approaches WWE’s biggest events.
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McAfee’s involvement is also believed to be tied directly to WWE’s agreement with ESPN, which will broadcast the first hour of each night of WrestleMania on linear television. With McAfee maintaining a prominent and established presence in sports media through his ESPN platform, placing him at the center of one of WrestleMania’s biggest storylines creates a natural crossover between WWE’s biggest show and its new broadcast partner.
BodySlam also reports that McAfee’s previous public comments suggesting the wrestling business had passed him by were kayfabe, and that his return to WWE programming had been expected for some time. He has since poured more fuel onto the storyline by publicly promising to walk away from wrestling television if Orton fails to defeat Rhodes at WrestleMania 42.
With TKO reportedly driving the decision rather than the traditional creative pipeline, the McAfee angle carries an added dimension heading into WrestleMania weekend. Whether the corporate influence produces the desired result in terms of mainstream attention will become clear on April 18-19 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
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