WWE WrestleMania 42: 10 Nightmares That Could Come True
3. Pat McAfee Leaves With The WWE Title
Oh dear.
Pat McAfee wouldn't be leaving 'Mania with the WWE Title because he's champion, obviously, but it's more just that he'd be carrying the belt around for his boy Randy Orton. That happened on SmackDown, and it just didn’t feel necessary at all. Why should Randy let someone else tote a championship he covets?
McAfee's antics conjured up reminders of David Arquette walking around with the WCW World Title somehow. No, that's not meant as a favourable comparison in the slightest. At least Arquette (daft a decision though it undoubtedly was) could point to being the actual champ. Pat can't, so why is he draping the title over his shoulder instead of Randy's?
Listen, if this is all a vehicle for McAfee to delude himself into thinking Orton won the title for him then count this writer out. What a waste of everyone's time it'd be if Randy RKO's or punts Pat back to the podcasts on the next SmackDown episode after Vegas. That's the sort of rapid swerve turn WWE could make given the lay of the land in April 2026.
TKO's influence over what's happening onscreen needs to stop. They can pitch ideas, absolutely, but they honestly don't have much of a clue about what WWE fans want to see and this story shift proves it. McAfee was blatantly going for some sort of Paul Heyman alongside Roman Reigns thing with the belt on TV, but it came across like he wanted to be champion himself.
Stop it. Definitely don't do that at 'Mania!