{"id":513734,"date":"2026-04-05T05:55:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T05:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/513734\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T05:55:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T05:55:15","slug":"wwe-backstage-reaction-cody-rhodes-shoot-comments-about-tko-regarding-pat-mcafee-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/513734\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE Backstage Reaction, Cody Rhodes ‘Shoot’ Comments About TKO Regarding Pat McAfee Return"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Published: 10 hours ago by Liam | Last Updated: 10 hours ago by Liam<\/p>\n

Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news for over eight years, and is currently the Managing Editor at WrestleTalk.com. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles in addition to leading and overseeing WrestleTalk.com’s coverage.
\n \"WWE<\/p>\n

WWE<\/p>\n

Details have emerged regarding the backstage reaction in WWE and \u201cshoot\u201d comments from Cody Rhodes about Pat McAfee\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

McAfee made his return to WWE TV after months away last night, aligning with Randy Orton<\/a> and attacking Cody Rhodes, with the storyline being that McAfee thinks WWE has sucked recently \u2013 both creative-wise and business-wise \u2013 blaming it on Rhodes being the face of the company, and wanting to install Orton in that role to \u201csave the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

McAfee in his promo even brought up the decrease in WrestleMania ticket sales since last year and what he referred to as the worst SmackDown ratings of all time.<\/p>\n

Later in the show, Rhodes came back out for a promo, and some interesting details from that have now emerged.<\/p>\n

As reported by PWInsider<\/a>, Rhodes\u2019 promo wasn\u2019t listed on the internal rundown for the show \u2013 which may have just been because it was being hidden that he\u2019d be on the show a second time, but might also have meant it was a late addition.<\/p>\n

Also, there\u2019s a belief that some of Rhodes\u2019 comments were particularly pointed at TKO<\/a> management regarding McAfee being inserted into the storyline.<\/p>\n

To speculate on what that part of the report may be referring to, Rhodes at one point said\u00a0 \u201ceveryone who represents (McAfee) \u2013 and I know who I\u2019m talking to \u2013 can kiss my ass.\u201d<\/p>\n

McAfee is widely known to be represented by Ari Emanuel, who is the CEO of Endeavor and the CEO & Chairman of TKO, which means he has the ultimate power and control over WWE if and when he wants to use it, and there\u2019s a belief as noted<\/a> by Dave Meltzer that McAfee\u2019s involvement was a direction from Emanuel.<\/p>\n

In summary, there appears to at least be some semblance of tension and frustration from some people in WWE towards Endeavor and TKO management for getting involved in the WrestleMania main event build \u2013 not for the first time.<\/p>\n

Part of the storyline as well is McAfee announcing he\u2019ll never return to pro-wrestling TV<\/a> if Orton loses at WresleMania.<\/p>\n

How Could WWE Fix The Pat McAfee Backlash?<\/p>\n

(By Jamie Toolan<\/a>)<\/p>\n

After the universal negativity to Travis Scott\u2019s involvement in the WrestleMania 41 main event between John Cena and Cody Rhodes, it\u2019s quite baffling to imagine WWE\u2019s higher ups didn\u2019t foresee the same happening when Pat McAfee was revealed as Randy Orton\u2019s mystery caller.<\/p>\n

While McAfee is much more well respected by the fans than Scott, the storyline he\u2019s been inserted to makes very little sense and quite frankly doesn\u2019t need him, nor any other outside party other than Rhodes and Orton.<\/p>\n

While someone like The Rock or Kevin Owens could have at least tied in with previous storylines involving Rhodes and\/or Orton, the two former Legacy members have history dating back two whole decades and WWE have barely tapped into any of that thus far.<\/p>\n

WWE completely backing out of any McAfee involvement without reason may be too jarring, but perhaps this new, more aggressive version of Cody Rhodes could forcefully take out the former Indianapolis Colts punter in order to earn him some well needed favor with the fans, and give him some actual edge to his character heading into WrestleMania 42.<\/p>\n

With McAfee vowing to leave WWE if Orton doesn\u2019t win at WrestleMania, they could always just book Rhodes to win, however, that would mean fans will have to at least accept Pat being in The Viper\u2019s corner in Las Vegas, before Cody and Randy continue their feud alone after April 18 & 19.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To make sure you stay up to date with all the biggest wrestling and WrestleTalk news, follow us on Threads by clicking this link<\/a>!<\/p>\n

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