World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk sent a strong and clear message about Pat McAfee on Monday, amid the controversy surrounding the Randy Orton-Cody Rhodes storyline heading into WWE WrestleMania 42.
Hours before the start of the April 6, 2026, edition of WWE Raw, CM Punk posted a photo on his Instagram Stories featuring several screenshots of promotional material for tonight's show.
The notable detail is that Pat McAfee appears in the post -- with the World Heavyweight Champion covering his face with a clown emoji.
What Is Going on With Pat McAfee, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and WrestleMania 42?
TKO Group Holdings, WWE's parent company, decided to insert McAfee into the storyline involving Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton heading into WrestleMania 42.
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Last Friday, Rhodes allegedly went off script on SmackDown and expressed genuine frustration with how TKO intervenes in WWE's creative decisions.
"We got all dressed up in St. Louis tonight to find out who Randy Orton was talking to on the phone," Rhodes said.
"And color me surprised, it was Pat McAfee. That's like if Scott Hall and Kevin Nash talked about the third man in the NWO, and instead of Hulk Hogan, it was Disco Inferno." And it appears Rhodes is not the only one who is unhappy.
Following this controversy, WWE is under fire, with many fans expressing their discontent with the company's direction since its acquisition by TKO.
Barstool Sports' Eric Nathan is among the latest to fire at them. "WWE selling to TKO has been a ginormous failure," Nathan wrote Monday on his X account.
