WrestleMania 42 is fast approaching, and with the biggest two nights in wrestling happening in Las Vegas this year, WWE is doing all it can to go all in and raise the stakes. After adding John Cena as host, Jelly Roll, and maybe even Tom Brady, Pat McAfee is in the mix as Randy Orton's mystery guest ahead of his big match with Cody Rhodes.
There was a "wtf" vibe on the internet after McAfee's unexpected appearance on SmackDown. The commentator wasn't on the short list of popular guesses for who would support Orton, and some questioned why two wrestlers with decades of history between them needed one of the biggest sports pundits in the world in the mix to push along storytelling. As debate continues on that, McAfee spoke out and made a promise to fans tied to the match.
Pat McAfee Added Another Stipulation To Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes' WrestleMania 42 Match
Pat McAfee hopped on X to try and generate hype, something he's usually good at. The ESPN pundit continued to shower Randy Orton with praise, and is so confident he'll win at WrestleMania 42, he added this stipulation:
The only 'shock' is that @RandyOrton, the greatest Sports Entertainer of all time, isn’t running @WWE. That all changes at Mania… When he becomes 15 TIME WORLD CHAMPION AND SAVES THE BUSINESS for future generations while doing so. And if he doesn’t… I’ll NEVER BE SEEN OR HEARD IN THE WRESTLING WORLD AGAIN.
This proclamation came about a month after McAfee publicly said he was likely done as a commentator in the WWE. A month later, he's playing a central role in the main event of WrestleMania. While speculation mounts as to why this is the case, the one thing we know is that not everyone is a fan of his return.
McAfee Got A Lot Of Negative Comments From Fans On The Post
It seems as though the online wrestling community hasn't lost its fire since Friday night, and McAfee's comment was littered with people who were upset. Not so much as McAfee, but the fact that this whole angle is happening with him unnecessarily inserted:
- “Save the Business” says the podcaster punter who should be nowhere near a World Title feud. - @Nick_Hagelgans
- Nobody asked for this, nor does anyone want this. 20 years of history and the stakes are "if randy looses pat macafee goes away." Wow, great writing TKO. - @FiresOfTruth
- This is so corny dude. TKO ruining your image and legacy in the WWE - @AllMikedUp
- Is this the WWE’s plan to aggressively keep Cody as a babyface? - @DartsWithMatt
- Might as well take the Wrestle out of Wrestlemania. Guess where Ari's right hand is since he clearly controls you like a puppet - @ExConDom1238
The last comment is a reference to TKO CEO Ari Emanuel, who is rumored to have a hand in Pat McAfee's inclusion into this WrestleMania 42 feud. Insider site Bodyslam.net alleged that Emanuel made the call to have McAfee inserted into the feud, and believed he'd bring energy to the feud between Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes.
It would seem Emanuel has hopes that bringing in Pat McAfee will bring more eyes on WrestleMania 42, as the WWE struggles to sell tickets to the two-night event in Vegas. McAfee can, of course, promote the show further on The Pat McAfee Show, and I'm sure ESPN will have no problem with that as it also has a vested interest in seeing people use their ESPN Unlimited subscription to watch Mania.
Whether it'll work or not remains to be seen. Personally, I've written about how the creative dip in storytelling may be a factor in low ticket sales, with this latest appearance by Pat McAfee being an example. I think people would've sooner liked to see an experienced absent veteran like Kevin Owens team up with Randy Orton, but it seems so much in the WWE is centered around creating viral moments rather than anything else.
All this being said, McAfee has surprised WWE fans in the past, so I'm not completely ruling out him doing it yet again at WrestleMania 42. We'll see if he can sway some angry fans in these final weeks leading up to April 18th and 19th.
