WrestleMania 42 has come and gone and Pat McAfee has said that he is no longer part of the wrestling business after taking a starring role in WWE’s showcase event.
And according to top wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer, it was his decision.
McAfee was controversially inserted into the main event match between WWE champion Cody Rhodes and challenger Randy Orton. The sudden storyline shift puzzled fans and they thoroughly rejected McAfee’s shocking heel turn and ascension to the top of the card after serving as a fan-friendly commentator for most of his WWE career.
At WrestleMania 42, McAfee was seemingly written out of the story. He was splashed through a table by Jelly Roll before the match. Then, during the match Randy Orton turned on him and gave him an RKO after he somehow ran out to the ring as a referee and tried to give him the victory. McAfee then said thank you to the wrestling business and then gave the indication that he was done with WWE for good.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, the longtime pro wrestling scribe said that it was the decision of Pat McAfee to hit the eject button on his main event storyline with himself and Jelly Roll both recognizing the angst from fans over their involvement.
“With the Pat McAfee thing, he opted out, so that’s what actually led to everything changing. That’s why the tag match from Backlash was taken off. Orton and McAfee against Jelly Roll and Cody Rhodes, which Cody Rhodes may not be okay for Backlash anyway, you know with that eye.”
“They were very cognizant of what has been said about celebrities in wrestling and both of them love wrestling and I think that they realized that there was a lot of negative sentiment about it. And they listened and they understood and I think they saw the fan side of it. And I think that that’s what led to this.”
“I was told that the belief was that it was due to the reaction that he pulled out. It wasn’t like anything else.”
While WWE has always embraced celebrities, the TKO era has definitely taken it overboard. After Travis Scott wrecked the WrestleMania 41, fans were having a dizzying feeling of deja vu. Meltzer had reported that McAfee and Jelly Roll were slated to be in the Backlash main event in a tag match with Orton and Rhodes. However, their moment at WrestleMania 42 seems to be the end of their story.
It’s a fascinating report because if there’s one thing that Pat McAfee has been, it’s defiant in the face of criticism. Nobody claps back as critics, real or perceived, as much as McAfee, even when it comes to calling out wrestling fans. In some regards, it’s surprising because he could have easily leaned into the hate and tried to become even more of a monster heel. And if TKO CEO Ari Emanuel is truly committed to McAfee as a budding Hollywood star, then it would make sense that an extended run in the spotlight was originally in the cards.
So if this report is indeed true, then credit is due to Pat McAfee for recognizing that this wasn’t working and backing out. Both he and Jelly Roll are indeed huge wrestling fans and if they truly felt that their presence was doing more harm than good then it’s admirable that they would have the best interest of the industry in mind and sacrifice their own starring roles. If only the bosses at TKO showed similar restraint in the beginning, maybe they wouldn’t have had to deal with all the negativity in the first place.
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