Report: Triple H DIDN'T Choose Pat McAfee - TKO Did! Backstage Latest (WWE News)
It was reportedly TKO's Ari Emanuel who booked Pat McAfee's return on WWE SmackDown.
BodySlam+ is reporting that TKO's executive chairman Ari Emanuel was the one behind Pat McAfee's shocking return on the latest episode of SmackDown. To recap, McAfee burst onto the scene, kicked Cody Rhodes in the balls, then aligned himself with Randy Orton.
According to reports, Emanuel believes that Pat's mainstream star power will help shift some tickets for WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas across 18-19 April. Rumours that he looked at the stuff with Matt Cardona and said, 'Boy, that'll put some butts in seats' are unsubstantiated.
Seriously though, this is very interesting in terms of analysing WWE's backstage power structure. Presumably, head of creative Triple H had to rubber stamp Ari's plans. It's either that or TKO top brass went above his head to book their own story on Friday night, which is a chilling thought (or should be for Hunter).
BodySlam+ noted that Emanuel reckons Pat can help this Randy vs. Cody feud 'get to where it needs to be'. Recently, live crowds have been cheering the heel of the piece (Orton) and booing the babyface champion (Rhodes). Somehow, TKO believed that sticking McAfee in the mix would change that.
Regular viewers will stop to think about that for a second!
TKO clearly believes that mainstream names will help them sell briefs for 'Mania. To date, everyone from Jelly Roll and John Cena to Pat McAfee and Lil Yachty has been getting involved in the PLE's hype. It remains to be seen if this will have any impact on ticket sales, but WWE/TKO obviously hope it does.