WWE's Cody Rhodes Opens Up About Pat McAfee's Involvement In WrestleMania Storyline
WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes thought he was only going up against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42, but "The Viper's" mystery caller ended up being Pat McAfee, who has since helped Orton attack Rhodes and stolen the Undisputed WWE Championship.
Rhodes has now opened up about the inclusion of McAfee in his feud, though at first he said that he simply doesn't know McAfee.
"I would say I'm glad there are people who like to pitch themselves in these WrestleMania, and these big moments; I am flattered," he claimed during an appearance on "Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast."
The champion later noted that he has a lot of history with Orton and seemingly criticized the inclusion of McAfee in the feud.
"Randy Orton, who I'm wrestling at WrestleMania, we have like almost two decades of history between each other," Rhodes noted. "We were on screen together as part of his group, Legacy, he had my dad's last match, my first match in the company; there was a lot of rich story material, and then we inserted Pat McAfee."
Rhodes then pointed out that everyone's question is what McAfee is even doing in the feud.
Rhodes suggested McAfee has no place in his feud with Orton
Cody Rhodes described Pat McAfee's inclusion into the feud as an "interesting fit," and briefly suggested that he has no business in the storyline, harkening to a well-known meme of a clown alongside soldiers preparing to breach a location.
Despite this, Rhodes noted that McAfee must be a serious person because of all his success in life, but advised the people around him to sometimes say "no" to trying out new things.
"You need that one guy in the room to be like: 'I don't know, man, jumping into the WrestleMania main event?'" he said.
In his return promo, McAfee notably mentioned the "Attitude Era," which Rhodes joked about.
"It's a different era of wrestling. It was like watching a guy at a bar do, like, a Stone Cold impression?" he noted. "I heard him talk about the Attitude Era and I'm thinking, 'Oh man, I don't think he knows!' Almost 30 years ago ... love it, and it was the most prolific era of the business until the last four years. So if you're part of the last four years, you kind of feel like, why are we talking about this?"
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the "Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast," and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.