The main event of WrestleMania Saturday (Apr. 18) is WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defending his title against Randy Orton. The story of their match has been ruined by the recent addition of Pat McAfee. The former NFL punter says WWE business metrics are spiraling down the toilet, and Randy is the only one who can restore WWE back to its glory days of the Attitude Era (or something like that).
McAfee maintains that he will leave WWE forever if Orton doesn’t walk out of WrestleMania as the 15-time world
champion and save the business. This stipulation seems to telegraph that WWE’s plan is for Orton to win, considering that TKO CEO Ari Emanuel apparently thinks he can turn McAfee into the next Sylvester Stallone.
But what if Randy Orton can’t win because he needs to take time off? A new report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter says Randy is “hurting” right now, which could possibly lead to a change in plans at WrestleMania:
“Perhaps most notable in the McAfee promo is that he said that if Randy Orton doesn’t beat Cody Rhodes for the title, that he will never do anything involving WWE again. Obviously that is not happening. In fact, the only result, given that promo, that was almost completely clear is Orton winning. We were told that Orton is hurting so there is a possibility that would change, as it would make no sense for Orton to win if he has to take time off, but McAfee’s statement came across like it’s as close to a lock as possible.”
The Observer goes on to claim that WWE currently has a tag team match of Orton & McAfee vs. Rhodes & Jelly Roll scheduled for the Backlash PLE on May 9. That probably can’t happen if Orton needs to take time off and/or McAfee has to leave WWE forever, so the expectation remains that Orton is beating Rhodes at WrestleMania. But considering how chaotic this build to WrestleMania 42 has been, it might be fitting for the main event finish to change just days ahead of time.
Do you think this report makes it more likely that Cody Rhodes wins at WrestleMania and WWE has to find a way out of its stipulation on McAfee leaving the company forever? Let me know in the comments below, Cagesiders.
