Summary

WWE has reportedly adjusted some of its SmackDown creative plans after the negative response to Pat McAfee being revealed as Randy Orton's mystery phone caller on the April 3 episode. The angle ended with McAfee attacking WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, but the segment was met with heavy backlash after the show aired.

According to the report, the company has since gone back to the drawing board on parts of the storyline. There had also been speculation about more outside involvement, including the possibility of Jelly Roll being brought into the angle, but the current direction is said to be less settled than it was one week earlier.

Where the story stands after the Pat McAfee turn

The report also stated that CM Punk's comments on Monday reflected how much the plans had shifted over the course of the week. Those remarks were reportedly not part of the original direction when the McAfee reveal happened on SmackDown.

That makes this less about one disliked segment and more about WWE trying to steady a storyline after a creative beat landed poorly with viewers. It also keeps the Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton and McAfee program in a fluid spot, especially after the company had already used the reveal to close the show.

The backlash around the segment came after Pat McAfee was set for a WWE SmackDown address after the Randy Orton reveal, which underscored how quickly the angle became one of the week's biggest talking points.

What it could mean for Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton

If WWE is reworking the story this soon, the clearest consequence is that Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton may get a different path forward than the one implied at the end of SmackDown. The mention of plans becoming fluid also suggests WWE is still trying to decide how heavily McAfee should remain involved in the feud.

That uncertainty matters because this is happening around the WWE Championship picture, not a throwaway mid-card angle. A creative reset here could change how the company frames its next major segment, and whether outside celebrity involvement stays part of the story at all.

Sources

As reported by NoDQ.