As previously reported, Pat McAfee stunned the entire professional wrestling world when he appeared in the ring during a brawl between Undisputed WWE Champion "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes and "The Viper" Randy Orton in the opening segment of last week’s SmackDown. McAfee kicked Rhodes in the groin before revealing himself as Orton’s mystery caller.
He then took the microphone and criticized the WWE product, the creative team, the roster, and even the Undisputed WWE Champion himself. McAfee also pointed out that SmackDown had recorded its lowest-ever ratings the week prior and questioned why tickets for WrestleMania 42 were still available while Orton was in the mix.
According to Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, McAfee’s promo was not scripted by the creative team; instead, the entire angle was developed from above by WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque. Meltzer noted that there is a belief that McAfee created those lines himself and received permission to deliver them. However, the final promo was not something that the segment's writer, Christian Sowell, had discussed with Levesque beforehand. Meltzer also mentioned that Nick Khan was present for all of this.
