Cody Rhodes: Pat McAfee storyline ‘most ill-received thing’ in wrestling history
Cody Rhodes says that the recent WWE storyline involving Pat McAfee is “the most ill-received thing in the history of wrestling.”
Rhodes is preparing to defend his WWE Championship against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas this weekend, and McAfee will be in his opponent’s corner for the bout.
During a recent appearance on the SI Media with Jimmy Traina show, Rhodes was asked about the fan reaction to the angle. Rhodes said that every part of the wrestling fandom has reacted negatively to it.
Rhodes said:
“This is the most ill-received thing in the history of wrestling. Gobbledygooker was one. Shockmaster was up there, but that was kind of funny. This is the entire fandom. Your fandom, my fandom, independent wrestling fans, casual fans, cinema fans. Every single fan who’s ever seen wrestling has received this with, ‘Huh? What?’
Okay, so worst received thing in the history of wrestling, but I want to say something on the bright side because I have to be an optimist in general. On the bright side of this, Pat McAfee is a huge star and Pat McAfee is part of, he’s one of the faces, if not the face of ESPN. His College GameDay stuff is legendary. He’s a great athlete and he loves wrestling. He’s just trying to help our party out. So I respect him and I respect that. On the other side of it, I am attuned to the online audience, but it’s not just the online audience, every bit of the audience.”
Rhodes continued to say that he’s not worried about the match at Mania, however, as he feels his opponent is the best version of himself he’s been in a while.
Rhodes continued:
“Why I’m not worried about it at all is because Randy Orton is the guy I’m wrestling. Randy Orton is arguably the best he’s ever been.”
“Pat, where that fits in, I am like you and I’m excited to stand at the plate and you know we’re talking about these guys, if you want that spot that’s it. There’s others who run from that and oh no, that John Cena dealt with this for years and years and years and I’m dealing with it, too.”
Rhodes’ full appearance on the SI Media with Jimmy Traina podcast is available below. The video is queued to his comments about the build to his match with Orton at WWE WrestleMania 42 and the fan response to McAfee’s involvement.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.