Summary

Pat McAfee's role in the Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes storyline continues to draw a strong reaction, and JBL believes that response shows the angle is working as intended.

Speaking on *Something to Wrestle*, JBL said the backlash toward McAfee is not "go away" heat. Instead, he argued that fans are reacting to McAfee as a heel should be reacted to, especially after McAfee was revealed on the April 3 episode of *SmackDown* as Orton's mystery phone caller before Rhodes was attacked.

Quote from JBL

"It just blows me away when a guy gets heat like this and people go, 'Oh, no, no, no, it's go-away heat.' No, it's not. You're talking about it. If it was go-away heat, you would not be talking about it because you wouldn't like it, you wouldn't even mention it. It's real heat.

People want heels, but they want to be in on it. They'll say, 'Hey, listen, he's a great heel.' If you're saying somebody is a great heel, they're not really a heel, because you realize they're playing something.

When you come out there and you're able to strip away the veneer of that person playing a heel to that person just being an asshole and you don't like them, that's when you're winning.

Killer Tim Brooks used to always tell me, 'The key to being a heel is when they take away the fact that you're playing a character, and they don't just say it has nothing to do with Killer Tim Brooks as a wrestler, I don't like that man. I hate him.'

And then you ask them, 'Would you pay to see somebody come in, Bruiser Brody come in, and take on Killer?' 'Oh my God, I'd pay double.'

You're right, he can't draw any money. But that's the key to being a heel, people don't realize you're being a heel. They just look at it and go, 'I hate that guy.'

'Well, he's a good heel.' No, no, no, he's not a heel. I hate him. I hate him.

I think Pat's doing an incredible job."

What JBL's Pat McAfee point could mean for WWE TV

Pat McAfee's involvement gives the Orton and Rhodes story another source of tension on *SmackDown*, and JBL's comments frame that reaction as useful heat rather than fan rejection. If WWE keeps McAfee tied to Orton's side of the angle, the audience response could keep adding fuel to the program instead of feeling like a one-week twist.

JBL's point also speaks to how McAfee is being positioned on television. The stronger the negative reaction to McAfee in this role, the more value there is in eventually seeing Rhodes, or someone else aligned against him, get payback.

Sources

As reported by NoDQ.