Phil Lindsey (Fightful Wrestling Podcast): "The report at this point is that Pat [McAfee] was brought in because the call was made from Ari E..."

Fightful Wrestling Podcast · April 6, 2026 · 3h 0m

Chris Jericho Returns to AEW, Hikaru Shida Is Back, Pat McAfee Reveal | Grapsody 4/6/26

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Pat McAfee / TKO / WWE creative

The report at this point is that Pat [McAfee] was brought in because the call was made from Ari Emanuel. That pretty much lines up with a lot of what we've seen and just a lot of the usage of celebrities.

Pat McAfee / WWE creative

Pat McAfee being the guy [behind the phone call] is the least interesting result of all of this that we could have possibly gotten to. If you're a person that watches WWE programming, the last time we saw Pat McAfee was as a commentator. So why would you be excited that a guy that was on commentary is now involved in the main event of WrestleMania?

Peter Rosenberg / Wrestling etiquette

Wrestlers do not want to be coached by outside random people. They do not want to hear that. I'm not saying that as somebody that's speaking on behalf of wrestlers, I'm saying it as somebody that has seen wrestlers react to other people doing it. They do not like that.

WWE celebrity usage

I cannot understand how coming out of 2025 and the main event with Cena and how poorly that main event was received... and then you go, 'You know what this main event needs? A celebrity.' No, nobody liked that Travis [Scott] stuff last year. It was almost universally hated. Why would you come back and double down and do the same thing again?

Angel Reese / Chicago Sky

Angel Reese is no longer a Chicago Sky. I just can't say enough how like this year of basketball for Chicago fans has just been so... if you get any level of excitement for anything, they just like, 'Nope, we just going to snatch this away from you.'

WWE creative direction

This whole insistence on nostalgia is going to be the thing that sinks this ship because you're still talking about something that was 30 years ago. Some of these fans don't have no connection to the NWO.

Cody Rhodes / Randy Orton feud

Why haven't we had a segment where these guys [Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton] have just got in the ring and talked to each other yet face to face? Why are you bringing Stephanie McMahon in as a television character when she hasn't been on TV to be a part of this?

IWC / Wrestling discourse

The main problem with that argument [that the internet doesn't matter] is that you can't say the internet doesn't matter if you're taking time to talk to the internet. You can't be like, 'The internet don't matter,' but then you're addressing the internet.