JBL Hails Pat McAfee’s Heel Work in the Randy Orton/Cody Rhodes Saga Explaining He Has Real Heat Among the Fans

John Bradshaw Layfield has proffered his two cents on Pat McAfee's part in the storyline pitting Randy Orton against Cody Rhodes.

JBL Hails Pat McAfee’s Heel Work in the Randy Orton/Cody Rhodes Saga Explaining He Has Real Heat Among the Fans

JBL has praised Pat McAfee's heel work [via- Wrestling Inc and Bleeding Cold]

Pat McAfee having been stuffed into the rivalry between two former allies in Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes has the majority of wrestling fans up in arms. Even those across the board in WWE have been severely critical of McAfee’s unsolicited integration into such a high-profile feud that’s set to headline WrestleMania 42. But JBL sees nothing wrong with it.

The WWE Hall of Famer is, in fact, high on the kind of fan engagement that McAfee has evoked through his presence. Speaking on the Something to Wrestle podcast, John Bradshaw Layfield said the fact that fans online have been vehemently protesting Pat’s involvement and them not wanting him anywhere near Orton and Rhodes is exactly what a heel is supposed to make the wrestling audience feel like.

The 59-year-old dismissed the sentiment that what McAfee currently has is just go-away heat. Because if it were, no one would’ve mentioned it, let alone talk about it. JBL further underscored the importance of stripping away that veneer of someone playing a bad guy on wrestling television, as it’s when the character is most effective.

Bradshaw said the key to playing an effective heel is taking away that one is pretending to be an on-screen villain and instead making the fans hate the wrestler itself. ‘The Wrestling God’ affirmed that Pat McAfee is doing an incredible job. And coming from JBL, who’s regarded as one of the greatest heels of his time, that’s a big up for McAfee.

The former NFL punter reportedly turned down his agent, Ari Emanuel‘s, request to be inserted into the Orton/Rhodes feud at first. That made WWE scramble to put someone else in McAfee’s spot, which, who knows, could’ve been even worse. The idea of using the ESPN analyst in such a way on WWE programming didn’t originate in the WWE writers’ room and was an edict made by TKO executives.

Pat McAfee’s promo trashing current state of WWE was allegedly his brainchild

The Friday on SmackDown where Pat McAfee was revealed to be the one who had been calling Randy Orton since he brutally attacked Cody Rhodes was when the ‘Boomstick’ dumped on the current state of WWE. McAfee brought up how WrestleMania was a far cry from being a sold-out avenue.

Pat McAfee aligned with Randy Orton on SmackDown
Pat McAfee aligned with Randy Orton against Cody Rhodes on SmackDown [via- WWE]

While knocking on Cody Rhodes, McAfee insisted that the ‘QB1’ was to blame for bringing his brand the ignominy of pulling in record-low numbers. As per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, none of that was put forth by the WWE creative team with the backstage belief that Pat McAfee came up with those lines on his own and received the nod from someone way up the food chain to say them.

The writer of record listed for McAfee’s segment was Christian Sowell, and there was another writer. The creative team was aware of McAfee going out and saying something that was done above Triple H‘s head. But whatever McAfee ended up doing in that promo wasn’t the one that Sowell had smartened up the WWE CCO on.

And if it wasn’t obvious already, it’s clear as daylight that the College GameDay host has the firm backing of TKO executives. It was also noted that McAfee talking about SmackDown getting the lowest ratings ever under Rhodes was him referring to the Cagematch reviews of the 3/27 episode of the blue brand. Now that McAfee is in Orton’s corner against Rhodes; the latter needed someone in his too.

This past week on SmackDown, Jelly Roll motivated Rhodes to stay focused on his WWE title match with ‘The Viper’. Roll told McAfee to his face that he didn’t belong there. Even though WWE tried implying it with Roll saying that and then Rhodes repeating it in his in-ring promo with Pat McAfee, the fact that it doesn’t revert back to just Orton and Rhodes going back and forth changes absolutely nothing for the fans and the so-called dream feud itself.

With just one week left until WrestleMania, the fans have tempered their hopes about expecting a straight-up wrestling match between the former Legacy stablemates with no McAfee and Roll in the mix. Also, there are already plans in place for Orton and McAfee to team up against Rhodes and Roll at next month’s Backlash PLE in Orlando.

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