Cody Rhodes is not sugarcoating the reception to Pat McAfee’s insertion into his WrestleMania 42 program with Randy Orton.
Speaking with Jimmy Traina on the SI Media podcast, Rhodes was asked whether he pays attention to online feedback on the angle. His answer was blunt.
“This is the most ill-received thing in the history of wrestling. Gobbledy Gooker was one, Shockmaster was up there, but that was kind of funny. This is, the entire fandom, your fans, my fans, independent wrestling fans, casual fans, cinema fans, every single fan who has ever said ‘wrestling,’ has received this with, ‘Huh? What? Okay.’ Worst received thing in the history of wrestling.
I want to say something on the bright side because I have to be an optimist. On the bright side is Pat McAfee is a huge star and one, if not the, face of ESPN. His College GameDay stuff is legendary. He’s a great athlete and he loves wrestling. He’s just trying to help our party. I respect him and that. On the other side of it, I’m in tune with the online audience, but it’s everybody in the audience. We all see it. I look at that and ask myself, kind of like when I was doing Stardust or given a bone on my way up, ‘How can we make this something?'” Rhodes said.
Despite the noise surrounding McAfee, Rhodes made clear his confidence in the match itself remains completely intact, pointing to where Randy Orton is right now as the reason he is unbothered.
“Why I’m not worried about it at all is because Randy Orton is the guy I’m wrestling. He is arguably the best he’s ever been. Before he turned on me, crowds were reacting to Randy in an insanely positive way because they were feeling the love. It was a respect thing. They saw John go. Randy is not going yet. He’s the hottest he’s ever been. Wrestler-wise, he might be the best he’s ever been. That, to me, I know bell-to-bell that we’re going to be just fine. Pat, where that fits in, I’m excited to stand at the plate. If you want that spot, that’s it. There are others who run from that. John Cena dealt with this for years and years. I’m dealing with it too,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes defends the Undisputed WWE Championship against Orton, with McAfee in Orton’s corner, in the night one main event of WrestleMania 42 on April 18 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit SI Media with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
