More Details on Pat McAfee Reveal on WWE SmackDown, How McAfee Was Kept Hidden & Segment Producers

PWInsider has more details on the shocking reveal of Pat McAfee as Randy Orton’s mystery caller on last night’s WWE SmackDown. According to several talents who PWInsider spoke to, McAfee was kept hidden before the first segment on SmackDown, and no one was aware he was going to be revealed.

WWE Hall of Famer Michael Hayes and Robert Roode produced the Pat McAfee segment for SmackDown, and Christian Scovell was internally listed for the segment as well. Scovell is a writer and producer for WWE.

PWInsider also notes that the later promo, where Cody Rhodes responded to McAfee’s attack, was not listed internally for the planned rundown of the show. It’s said that there is a backstage belief that some of Rhodes’ comments were him shooting about TKO having McAfee being written into the storyline.

As noted, it’s also rumored that McAfee’s insertion into the storyline was an edict that came from above WWE from TKO, and it may have specifically come from company CEO Ari Emanuel. It was later approved by Triple H.

Cody Rhodes will now defend his WWE Undisputed Title against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42, with Pat McAfee in Orton’s corner. McAfee declared that if Orton doesn’t win, he will never appear in wrestling again.

WrestleMania 42 is scheduled for April 18-19 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show will air live on ESPN Unlimited in the US and on Netflix internationally. 411 will have live coverage of the show.