The situation involving Pat McAfee’s role in the Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes storyline heading into WrestleMania 42 has come into sharper focus, with new details shedding light on why plans shifted so dramatically in the final stretch.

McAfee was introduced as Orton’s mystery caller during the April 3 episode of SmackDown, just weeks before WrestleMania. His involvement was not originally a creative decision from WWE’s internal team, but instead reportedly came from TKO CEO Ari Emanuel. The idea was for McAfee to stand in Orton’s corner at WrestleMania, while Jelly Roll would back Cody Rhodes, setting the stage for a celebrity-driven tag team match at Backlash on May 9.

However, the reaction to McAfee’s reveal was immediate and overwhelmingly negative. Fans voiced strong criticism online, and there was said to be frustration within the locker room as well. Cody Rhodes himself did not shy away from addressing it, even calling the segment one of the most poorly received ideas in wrestling history.

Following WrestleMania 42, McAfee appeared on his ESPN show and stated that his time in wrestling had come to an end, sticking to the stipulation he set that he would walk away if Orton failed to capture the championship. Behind the scenes, though, more was unfolding.

According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, McAfee ultimately made the call to remove himself from the storyline, which caused a ripple effect across WWE’s plans.

“With the Pat McAfee thing, he opted out. That’s what actually led to everything changing….And then he opted out again. That’s why the tag match from Backlash was taken off.”

Meltzer went on to explain that both McAfee and Jelly Roll were highly aware of the ongoing criticism surrounding celebrity involvement in wrestling, which may have influenced their decisions.

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

He added further context regarding McAfee’s exit from the angle.

“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’s a lot, a lot of chaos that was going on, especially on Saturday, for WrestleMania,” Meltzer said.