Bishop Dyer, the former WWE star known as Happy Corbin, has spoken out against Pat McAfee’s involvement in the WrestleMania 42 main event build, saying the story between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton was compelling enough on its own and should not have been complicated by an outside element at the top of the card.
Dyer spoke to Denise Salcedo about the situation, acknowledging the unique position McAfee occupies between the worlds of celebrity and wrestling while still making clear he is not comfortable with where his former NFL roommate has been placed in the program.
“Pat’s a weird anomaly because he’s not a celebrity to the full extent, he’s not a wrestler, he’s kind of just that guy that is in between and has his finger in everything whether it be comedy, entertainment, sports, wrestling, all that,” Dyer said. “It’s not like Travis Scott all over again that ruined the main event.”
Despite that partial defense of McAfee’s credibility as a wrestling figure, Dyer expressed genuine frustration about what the phone call angle took away from a feud he believes had all the ingredients it needed to be extraordinary.
“I’m bummed out a little bit with the story that is being told between Cody and Randy because I think with the history that they have and Randy being the mentor and Randy having him throw Cody out and throwing his brother out of the Royal Rumble, that’s the story we need to be telling,” Dyer said. “Why do we have this anonymous phone call and it turns out to be McAfee?”
Dyer made his philosophy about WrestleMania main events clear. “To me, the purest form of wrestling should be the main event of WrestleMania, that should be a one-on-one competition down the line except for a heel trying to take some shortcuts or whatever,” Dyer said. “That’s the thing to me that shouldn’t be touched. If you’re going to get Pat involved, get him involved in something else. Not the main event of WrestleMania.”
Dyer and McAfee were roommates when both were members of the Indianapolis Colts. McAfee defeated Dyer at SummerSlam 2022 in one of the more memorable celebrity matches in recent WWE history. Dyer also had matches against both Orton and Rhodes during his WWE career.
Rhodes defends the Undisputed WWE Championship against Orton in the Night 1 main event of WrestleMania 42 on April 18 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Denise Salcedo with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
