Cody Rhodes has taken the fight directly to Pat McAfee’s doorstep. During Wednesday’s episode of the Pat McAfee Show, McAfee revealed security footage of Rhodes entering his Thunderdome studio, destroying pieces of the set with a baseball bat and reclaiming the Undisputed WWE Championship in the process.
The footage showed Rhodes walking up to McAfee’s set before taking a baseball bat to it, sending a clear message to McAfee and Randy Orton just days before their WrestleMania 42 showdown.
Rhodes defends the Undisputed WWE Championship against Orton, with McAfee in Orton’s corner, in the night one main event of WrestleMania 42 on Saturday, April 18 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
CODY RHODES PULLED UP AND DESTROYED THE PAT MCAFEE SHOW SET AND TOOK BACK HIS WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
HE TOOK A BAT TO THE RANDY ORTON PHOTO
OH MY GOODNESS 😭 pic.twitter.com/ISJMs3hAZ0
— FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) April 15, 2026
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.
Check out the full interview here.
