JBL Says Pat McAfee Is Getting Real Heat and It Is Working

On the latest episode of Something To Wrestle With, JBL talked about the backlash against Pat McAfee’s involvement in the WrestleMania 42 main event between WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton. You can check out some highlights below:

On Pat McAfee:

“It just blows me away when a guy gets heat like this and people go, oh no, it’s go away heat. No, it’s not. You’re talking about it. If it was go away heat, you would not be talking about it, because you would not like it. You would not even mention it. It’s real heat. And people look out there, they want to have heels, but they want to be in on it. They go, hey, he’s a great heel. If you’re saying somebody is a great heel, they’re not a heel because you realize they’re playing something. And when you come out there and you’re able to strip away the veneer of that person playing a heel, to that person’s just an asshole and I don’t like them, that’s when you’re winning. Killer Tim Brooks used to always tell me, the key to being a heel is when they take away the fact that you’re playing a character. They don’t just say it has nothing to do with Killer Tim Brooks as a wrestler. I don’t like that man. I hate him. And then you ask him, well, would you pay to see somebody come in and take on killer? Oh my God, I’d pay double. That’s the key to being a heel, is that people don’t realize you’re being heeled. People just look at it and go, I hate that guy. I think Pat’s doing an incredible job.”

On Randy Orton:

“Randy’s a good person, and Randy is a guy that is incredibly respectful. Here’s Randy, a 14-time world champion, could be one of the greatest of all time. When you show up to an event, he treats you like you’re the greatest of all time, these old legends. When I show up, Randy’s always just so respectful. It’s so nice. And he does that with everybody. He shows respect to everybody. Maybe that’s because he’s a third-generation wrestler. Maybe that’s just growing up the son of Bob Orton Jr. I don’t know, but Randy is so respectful to these guys and defers to them so much. I think guys just really have an admiration for that, and they really root for Randy because of that.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Something To Wrestle With an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.