After weeks of speculation, WWE revealed on Friday’s SmackDown that Pat McAfee is Randy Orton’s mystery caller. He attacked the Undisputed WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes, and it’s one of the most-hated moments in recent WWE history. According to reports, Rhodes’ comments at the end of the show reflected his true feelings about TKO—WWE’s parent company—interfering with creative.
Earlier this afternoon, Punk and Rhodes exchanged messages on social media. Punk posted a photo of Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday from Tombstone. Rhodes responded with a photo of Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp in one of the most iconic scenes, “I’m your Huckleberry.” This suggests that the two might form an alliance.
Well, Punk would have words of his own in the opening of WWE Raw. Punk was shooting on everybody and everything in WWE, including his WrestleMania opponent, Roman Reigns, whom he called a “bucktoothed nepo baby.” He also references Reigns’ feud with Baron Corbin in which a “weird old man” (Vince McMahon) made him eat dog food. He turns his attention to TKO President Ari Emmanuel, calling on him to lower WWE ticket prices, and of course, McAfee catches straws of his own.
.@CMPunk is dropping a PIPE BOMB
pic.twitter.com/W7l8m34bd8
— WWE (@WWE) April 7, 2026
How WrestleMania 42 is turning into a jumbled mess
Instead of relying on a roster of talent to sell tickets to WWE’s biggest and most important event of the year, they’re using celebrities and Internet personalities to boost sales. The two-day event in Las Vegas, Nevada, isn’t selling as well as WWE would hope, so they’ve enlisted people like Jelly Roll, McAfee, Lil Yachty, and iShowSpeed in the hopes their involvement will get people to attend. But with high ticket prices and an unstable economy, attending WrestleMania isn’t exactly a priority for most.
Instead, it’s backfired on WWE. Fans have grown increasingly fed up with layup storylines such as Rhodes and Orton, who share a two-decade-long history. Their rivalry has been muddied by the inclusion of McAfee and Jelly Roll.
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