Report: Pat McAfee’s WWE return tied to corporate synergy
A recent report has emerged on Pat McAfee’s return to WWE SmackDown.
The latest episode on Friday, April 3, SmackDown saw McAfee make his surprising return as Randy Orton’s mystery phone call friend and aid him in attacking Cody Rhodes. However, the segment was extremely poorly received and helped SmackDown record one of its lowest-ranked episodes in the show’s history, per Cagematch.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reported that McAfee’s return was an effort to boost interest in the show and for “corporate synergy” between WWE and ESPN. The report further noted that there were several people who were not in favor of the direction of the “this place sucks” angle of the promo, and felt that those rarely work in pro wrestling.
Fightful Select also claimed that the internal reaction to the return was mixed, and WWE was well aware of the online reaction. Some internally suggested that the reaction was “heat,” others claimed that it was not the kind of “heat” the promotion needed.
Previously, Wrestlevotes had reported that McAfee was set to return soon, although the former NFL punter denied those rumors. WWE sources informed Fightful Select that “McAfee is also figured into upcoming WWE programming through WrestleMania.”
Moments after McAfee’s return, PWInsider reported that McAfee’s comeback was an Ari Emanuel call. Emanuel has been very high on McAfee as well as the entertainment space. This created the notion that Triple H was no longer leading the creative team. However, such is not the case, and the Hall of Famer is still leading the “week-to-week creative and the vast majority of the program.”
Later, Bodyslam also reported that Rhodes’ promo that happened later in the evening was instructed to be a shoot one and “from the hip.”
Shounak Chakrabarti is an experienced sports journalist with a lifelong passion for athletics and storytelling. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds and joined F4WOnline in 2025.
Shounak takes particular interest in soccer, closely following top clubs like Real Madrid and Arsenal. Beyond sports, he enjoys fiction writing, photography, gaming, and cinema.