WWE Locker Room Reportedly Frustrated Over Pat McAfee’s Angle

Last week’s SmackDown taping left a lot of people frustrated, including some backstage WWE talents.

In the opening segment, Cody Rhodes interrupted Randy Orton’s promo and gained the upper hand in a fight. Shortly afterward, Pat McAfee, who had been away from the company for several months, entered the ring unannounced.

He then kicked Rhodes in the groin, turning the tables on The American Nightmare.

McAfee then cut a scathing promo, where he announced Orton as the savior of the promotion. He even touched upon WWE’s struggle with selling WrestleMania 42 tickets owing to their higher prices.

Several reports later claimed that the 38-year-old’s involvement in the Rhodes-Orton storyline was due to the influence of Ari Emanuel, who is McAfee’s agent and the Executive Chairman of TKO Group.

WWE Talent Unhappy With Pat McAfee’s Insertion In Storyline

Pat McAfee’s introduction as Randy Orton’s “advisor” sent the WWE Universe into a spiral.

Many fans claimed to hate it, noting that McAfee never had any personal segments with either Orton or Cody Rhodes when he was an active talent in the company.

Now, a report from PWInsider Elite’s Mike Johnson reveals that the discontent has spread backstage, as several talents have expressed frustration with his insertion into the WrestleMania main event storyline.

McAfee’s unscripted promo on Friday exacerbated the situation, with some people backstage believing that the story was already well-told without him in it.

While we are told Rhodes didn’t ‘sell’ the McAfee pivot to anyone, there was still a feeling of sympathy for him having to now have to ‘carry that additional weight,’ as one talent said, leading into WrestleMania. [H/T: WrestlingNews.co]

Monday night on Raw, CM Punk called out McAfee during his promo segment despite both of them representing different brands.

Punk also targeted Ari Emanuel (without naming him), calling him “the agent that shoehorned Pat into the business to lower the ticket prices.”

Meanwhile, WWE confirmed that Randy Orton’s main event match against Cody Rhodes will take place on Night 1 of WrestleMania 42 on April 18.