Pat McAfee Reveal as Randy Orton’s Ally Bombs on YouTube With Massive Dislikes

WWE is getting crushed after their decision to get Pat McAfee involved in Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes’ feud— and the backlash is playing out in real time on its own YouTube channel.

After the April 3 episode of SmackDown, backlash has exploded over the decision to reveal Pat McAfee as Randy Orton’s mystery ally in his feud with Cody Rhodes. What was supposed to be a big WrestleMania 42 storyline beat has now turned into a full-blown rejection — and a new update shows just how bad it’s gotten.

WWE uploaded the McAfee reveal to YouTube and fans immediately hated it. At the time of writing, the video has racked up 66.9K dislikes compared to just 26.4K likes — sitting at nearly 72% negative. That’s not a mixed reaction — that’s a clear message.

This comes right after SmackDown crashed to a 0.25 rating on Cagematch — officially the lowest-rated episode in the platform’s history, and the second lowest-rated wrestling event ever behind Heroes of Wrestling (1999). The biggest issue? Fans feel like WWE took a deeply personal, history-driven feud between Orton and Rhodes — and swerved it into celebrity territory.

With WrestleMania 42 right around the corner, WWE now has a major situation to manage. The reaction isn’t just loud — it’s backed by numbers, and it’s not going away anytime soon.

What’s your take on the Pat McAfee reveal — did WWE completely miss here, or is there still a way to turn this around? Drop your thoughts below and join the conversation.