Report: Pat McAfee opted out of WWE storyline plans after 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. Following his appearance, McAfee published a video with the caption, “I will make a deal with the IWC now..If @RandyOrton doesn’t win at Mania.. I will NEVER be seen OR HEARD on wrestling television AGAIN.”

Cody ended up retaining his title against Orton at WrestleMania 42. During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com commented on what happened with McAfee…

“With the Pat McAfee thing, he opted out. That’s what actually led to everything changing. That’s why the tag match from Backlash was taken off.

The thing is that both of them (Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll) were very cognizant of what has been said about celebrities in wrestling. Both of them love wrestling, and I think they realized that there was a lot of negative sentiment about it.

I don’t know the exact reason McAfee pulled out. There could have been many different reasons, but the reason that was believed was, in fact, the reaction. I was told that the belief was it was due to the reaction that he pulled out. It wasn’t like anything else.

There was a lot, a lot of chaos going on, especially on Saturday, for WrestleMania.” (quote courtesy of Cultaholic.com)