Pat McAfee responds to WWE SmackDown fan backlash

WWE McAfee Orton
Pat McAfee aligns with Randy Orton on WWE SmackDown.

After controversially being inserted into the WWE WrestleMania 42 build on SmackDown, Pat McAfee stayed in character while addressing the situation on his ESPN show today.

McAfee looked back on the weekend in sports and named his alliance with Randy Orton as the biggest thing that happened. They joined forces on SmackDown with McAfee aiming to “save the business’ by having Orton defeat Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Bringing up that tickets to WrestleMania still aren’t sold out, McAfee called Rhodes a “puppet” champion and said the business he’s leading is “terrible.”

On The Pat McAfee Show, McAfee brought up that his daughter is about to turn three years old. He wants her to be a wrestling fan, but he wants wrestling to be what it’s supposed to be. That starts with elevating Orton back up to the top of the company.

“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 acknowledged the backlash the segment received but said the fans who reacted negatively are the exact type of people he’s doing this for.

“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. That’s the Internet Wrestling Community. 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. That should be confirmed tomorrow morning when the cards for both nights are revealed on ESPN’s Get Up.

In the United States, WrestleMania 42 will be broadcast live on the ESPN Unlimited app. The first hour of each night will also air on ESPN’s TV channel. In international markets, the show will stream live on Netflix.

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Joseph Currier
Joseph Currier

Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.

In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.