Lil Yachty’s WWE Commitment Earns Big Ups From Paul Heyman Amid Celebrity Pushback Noise in Pro Wrestling

Paul Heyman has singled out Lil Yachty's WWE commitment by adding that he respects this business.

Lil Yachty’s WWE Commitment Earns Big Ups From Paul Heyman Amid Celebrity Pushback Noise in Pro Wrestling

Paul Heyman has hailed Lil Yachty sticking around in WWE after WrestleMania [via- WWE]

WWE onboarded a bunch of celebrities to stack up its road to WrestleMania 42, and it certainly backfired on the company for the most part. Now that the biggest wrestling show of the year is in the rearview mirror, the celebrities are done with their side quests except Lil Yachty.

He turned up to this week’s SmackDown alongside the brand-new United States Champion Trick Williams and announced that he was there to stay. Yachty mentioned how every other celebrity that played a part on the road to WrestleMania is gone, but he was still there to stick around.

The rapper’s commitment to WWE didn’t go unnoticed by Paul Heyman. He noted in his post on X that it’s a time when the celebrity involvement in WWE has become very controversial. And the fact that Lil Yachty chose to stay back and continue his alliance with Williams post-WrestleMania shows that he respects WWE and its superstars, along with the company’s fanbase.

Paul Heyman called him a credit to the concept of crossovers in the world of pro wrestling. Speaking of what Yachty did on SmackDown this past Friday, he hyped up Trick Williams as he has done since forming an on-screen alliance with him. The 28-year-old rapper also announced that Williams will discontinue the tradition of the US title open challenge.

‘Mr. Whoop-That’ took the lead and affirmed that he wouldn’t give handouts to anyone. And if they want the US Champion, they’ll have to go through a good-looking 6’5″, 250-pound man who resembles a tall glass of chocolate milk, rocking those lemon-pepper steppers.

As Williams and Yachty proceeded to celebrate with the pyro going off in the background, the gingerbread man who was there in the ring with the two blindsided ‘Hollywood Trick’. It was later unmasked as Sami Zayn, who disguised himself as the man-sized batch of walking cinnamon to unload on Williams and Yachty. Zayn lost the US title to Williams at WrestleMania, and he seems hellbent on regaining it.

Why Pat McAfee dropped out of his major WWE storyline?

The biggest pushback from wrestling fans for a celebrity being inserted into a WrestleMania storyline this year was for Pat McAfee. He got interjected into the feud of Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes upon the behest of the TKO officials, as they reportedly thought his insertion would generate buzz and would consequently augment ticket sales for WrestleMania.

Pat McAfee attacked Cody Rhodes before match got underway with Randy Orton
Pat McAfee was involved in dream WWE feud feat. Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes [via- WWE]

It received instant rejection from the fans, and even several top WWE stars were pretty vocal about their dissatisfaction with the McAfee element in Orton/Rhodes. McAfee’s alliance with Orton ended in the closing moments of his match with Rhodes at WrestleMania when ‘The Viper’ dropped the ESPN analyst with an RKO.

It resulted in the ‘Legend Killer’ eating a Cross Rhodes from his former Legacy stablemate and getting pinned. ‘The Apex Predator’ couldn’t win his 15th world title at the grandest stage, and as promised by him on WWE television, McAfee wouldn’t return to the pro wrestling business. However, it wasn’t supposed to go like that.

In fact, as per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Orton was originally scheduled to dethrone Rhodes for the gold, likely with McAfee’s shenanigans. It’d have set up a tag team match with Randy Orton & Pat McAfee taking on Cody Rhodes & Jelly Roll at Backlash.

But the former punter for the Colts opted out of it owing to intense fan backlash. Those in WWE were under the belief that McAfee’s decision was triggered by the negative reception of his addition to the story.

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