Summary

Pat McAfee's brief involvement in Randy Orton's feud with Cody Rhodes may have ended sooner than WWE originally planned.

McAfee was revealed as Orton's mystery phone caller on the April 3 episode of SmackDown after Orton attacked Rhodes. He later said that if Orton did not beat Rhodes at WrestleMania 42, he would never be seen or heard on wrestling television again.

That is exactly how things played out. Rhodes retained the WWE Championship against Orton at WrestleMania 42, and a new report now says McAfee opted out of continuing with the storyline after the show.

Backlash plans reportedly changed

Dave Meltzer said McAfee pulling out led to WWE changing its creative plans, including the removal of a planned tag match from Backlash.

Quote from Dave Meltzer

"With the Pat McAfee thing, he opted out. That's what actually led to everything changing. That's why the tag match from Backlash was taken off."

Meltzer added that both McAfee and Jelly Roll were aware of the criticism around celebrity involvement in wrestling and that reaction may have played a role in the decision.

"The thing is that both of them (Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll) were very cognizant of what has been said about celebrities in wrestling. Both of them love wrestling, and I think they realized that there was a lot of negative sentiment about it."

Meltzer later went on to say:

"I don't know the exact reason McAfee pulled out. There could have been many different reasons, but the reason that was believed was, in fact, the reaction. I was told that the belief was it was due to the reaction that he pulled out. It wasn't like anything else."

"There was a lot, a lot of chaos going on, especially on Saturday, for WrestleMania."

What this could mean for Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes

If McAfee was meant to stay attached to the Orton vs. Rhodes issue through Backlash, WWE had to pivot quickly once that piece came off the board. That helps explain why the post-WrestleMania direction around Orton did not continue in the way some fans expected after SmackDown and the title match.

It also adds another layer to the backlash around the celebrity side of the WrestleMania 42 build. Triple H later defended the McAfee storyline criticism, but this report suggests the reaction may have affected creative plans more than WWE publicly let on.

Sources

As reported by NoDQ.