Backstage news regarding the decision to have Pat McAfee aligned with Randy Orton for WWE WrestleMania 42

As seen during the April 3rd 2026 edition of WWE SmackDown, Pat McAfee was revealed as Randy Orton’s mystery phone caller after he attacked WWE Champion Cody Rhodes.

According to PWInsider.com, those spoken to believe McAfee’s alignment with Randy Orton was a directive from TKO leadership to WWE creative, rather than an idea that originated within the creative team. The concept was said to have been later approved by Paul “Triple H” Levesque. One source indicated the directive may have come from as high up as Ari Emanuel.

BodySlam+ had additional details on the matter. A source indicated that Emanuel believes McAfee is a star who will help elevate the program between Orton and Cody and get it where it needs to be, with the added exposure from his show on ESPN and weekly SmackDown episodes leading into WrestleMania in two weeks. TKO firmly believes that mainstream names will help bring more eyes to the product and sell more tickets as the company returns to Las Vegas.

Internally, McAfee has been expected to return to WWE for quite some time, and his comments about the business passing him by were entirely kayfabe.