WWE and its parent company, TKO Group Holdings, are facing strong criticism after the creative team decided to insert Pat McAfee into the storyline involving Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton heading into WrestleMania 42.
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 unexpectedly. "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."
"Pat, you stoner, grifter, Logan Paul without muscles, human hat rack, fly by night, you're gonna get your receipt," he added. "And boy, I felt it. And I should have, you're a former NFL punter. But Pat, you and everyone who represents you, and I know who I'm talking to, can kiss my a--."
Following this controversy, WWE, and especially TKO, are under fire, with many fans expressing their discontent with the company's direction since it was acquired by the latter group.
Barstool Sports' Eric Nathan is among the latest to express his displeasure. "WWE selling to TKO has been a ginormous failure," Nathan wrote Monday on his X account.
"Shows are 70% commercials. You can't get into a match bc ads run nonstop during them. Speaking of, ads are EVERYWHERE. The ring, tables, ladders, every single inch of real estate they can slap an ad on, they do."
Nathan directly criticized both Ari Emanuel, executive chairman of TKO, and Triple H, chief content officer of WWE.
"Ari Emanuel is directing creative. HHH stinks enough at it as is; he doesn't need Ari Emanuel putting Jelly Roll and Pat McAfee into angles they don't belong," he added. "Never mind how he inserted Travis Scott into the John Cena story for no reason."
"It also seems that HHH et al are obsessed with social numbers but don't realize a lot of the engagement is negative. And not to mention, they've eliminated house shows and have made live events unaffordable. There's really been nothing positive about TKO's involvement with WWE."
Nathan's post, however, received mixed reactions -- from those who agree to those who point out that the insertion of so many ads into the shows has allowed WWE superstars to avoid overworking.
"The extra money has allowed the talent to have a far less stressful schedule and have actual lives," one X user wrote.
