Cody Rhodes Slams Pat McAfee WWE Angle: “Worst-Received Thing In Wrestling History”
Cody Rhodes is not pulling any punches these days while speaking about Pat McAfee.
Rhodes’ issues with McAfee began after the latter’s reveal as Randy Orton’s ‘advisor.’ On the April 3 episode of SmackDown, Rhodes confronted Orton, gaining a physical advantage on The Viper.
However, McAfee turned up unannounced on the show, making his first appearance in many months. He then hit a low blow on Cody, thus neutralizing him.
What followed was The Viper keeping The American Nightmare on his back while McAfee delivered a scathing promo.
In his speech, the 38-year-old addressed various prevailing issues within the company, including its poor ticket sales for WrestleMania 42. McAfee also claimed that Orton was going to save the business by becoming the Undisputed WWE Champion.
The segment miffed a lot of wrestling fans who had been following the Cody Rhodes-Randy Orton storyline closely, believing that it was already intriguing and did not need a third element.
A confrontation between the two took place on last week’s taping of the blue brand, where Rhodes told McAfee to go home, as he did not belong there.
The segment lasted nearly 30 minutes, which also showed Randy attacking Grammy Award-winning artist, Jelly Roll, before taking out Orton.
Both The Viper and McAfee then left the arena with Cody Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Championship.
Cody Rhodes Calls Pat McAfee Angle The ‘Worst-Received Thing In Wrestling History’
Despite the fan backlash, Pat McAfee has continued to remain a part of the Cody Rhodes-Randy Orton rivalry.
The 40-year-old is currently on the road to promote his match against Orton in the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania on April 18.
While speaking to Jimmy Traina, Cody Rhodes was asked about the negative response that Pat McAfee’s introduction to his storyline with Orton received.
The WWE Champion acknowledged the sentiments of the fans, choosing to build on it, as he called it the ‘worst-received thing in wrestling history.’
I’ll further that—this is the most ill-received thing in the history of wrestling. Gobbledy Gooker is one, there’s the Shockmaster—but that was kind of funny. This? The entire fandom—your fandom, my fandom, indie wrestling fans, casual fans, cinema fans—every single fan has received this with, ‘Huh? What?’ Okay—so, worst-received thing in the history of wrestling. [H/T: Ringside News]
The fan reaction to the storyline might or might not change depending on the outcome of the WrestleMania title match on Saturday.
The preceding matches on the card are:
- The Usos (Jey & Jimmy Uso) & LA Knight vs. The Vision (Logan Paul & Austin Theory) & iShowSpeed – 6-man Tag Team Match (1st hour)
- Drew McIntyre vs Jacob Fatu – Unsanctioned Match (1st hour)
- The Irresistible Forces (c) vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley & Lyra Valkyria vs. The Bella Twins (Brie & Nikki Bella) – Women’s Tag Team Championship Fatal 4-Way Match
- AJ Lee (c) vs. Becky Lynch – Women’s Intercontinental Championship Match
- Seth Rollins vs. Gunther – Singles Match
- Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. Liv Morgan – Women’s World Championship Match
The main event of Night 2 will see CM Punk defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns. Here’s the full card.