{"id":157700,"date":"2026-04-10T07:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=157700"},"modified":"2026-04-10T04:04:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T08:04:27","slug":"profit-over-quality-why-tko-needs-to-get-out-of-the-way-of-wwe-creatives-decision-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/04\/10\/profit-over-quality-why-tko-needs-to-get-out-of-the-way-of-wwe-creatives-decision-making\/","title":{"rendered":"Profit Over Quality: Why TKO Needs to Get Out of the Way of WWE Creative\u2019s Decision-Making"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exactly one week ago, WWE finally delivered the grand reveal of the <\/span>mystery caller<\/span><\/a> Randy Orton had been speaking to. To say it fell flat with the general audience would be an understatement; it was an absolute failure. It\u2019s fairly safe to say that with all the speculation swirling online, absolutely no one had Pat McAfee on their bingo card.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Just as Orton and his WrestleMania 42 opponent Cody Rhodes were colliding, much like they had one week prior, former NFL punter and WWE commentator <\/span>Pat McAfee<\/span><\/a> stormed the ring and delivered a low blow to the \u201cAmerican Nightmare.\u201d McAfee then grabbed a microphone to explain his actions, proclaiming that Rhodes represents everything that is wrong with the product today, while Orton is the solution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And while some of what McAfee said might have been true, the audience’s issue wasn\u2019t necessarily what he said, but rather who was saying it. The biggest critique from fans is that there is zero past story alignment <\/span>tying McAfee<\/span><\/a> to either Orton or Rhodes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An important thing to note is that there have always been <\/span>celebrity appearances<\/span><\/a> in WWE. Still, the most effective involvements are those that make sense and feature a connective, entertaining storyline. A notable recent example is <\/span>IShowSpeed<\/span><\/a>. Not only has he appeared at PLEs over the last few years, but he has also brought a level of humor to The Vision storyline, providing a much-needed reprieve from the more intense matchups at WrestleMania 42.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the McAfee debacle, many fans were left wondering who was behind the decision. Notable sources have indicated that TKO CEO Ari Emanuel, who also happens to be McAfee\u2019s Hollywood agent, played a significant role in the decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reports suggest that Emanuel wanted McAfee involved for two specific reasons: first, to expand WWE\u2019s reach by leveraging McAfee’s ESPN following. The second was to market McAfee as a “disruptive” star while proving his versatility as a heel and main-event-level personality.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But perhaps the most ridiculous part of this reveal is the fact that Emanuel, according to reports, wants to position McAfee as the next Sylvester Stallone. Trying to transform a brash sports media mogul into a Stallone-like persona feels more like corporate branding of what a movie star should be, rather than what one truly is, and a WWE ring is no place for McAfee to be kick-starting his acting career.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a number of reasons why fans are angry to see McAfee inserted into the feud between the Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and \u201cThe Viper,\u201d Randy Orton; TKO\u2019s rumored interference in WWE creative\u2019s storylines is at the forefront of the backlash.<\/span><\/p>\n

Making the Same Mistake\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

First, fans only recently dealt with a high-profile celebrity involvement in the WWE Undisputed Championship match just one year ago with <\/span>Travis Scott.<\/span><\/a> The hip-hop artist appeared in the WrestleMania 41 match between Rhodes and John Cena, playing a crucial part in the final moments of the bout.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While fans were looking forward to seeing Cena\u2019s final WrestleMania match and the potential for him to make history as a 17-time World Champion, that moment felt ruined by Scott\u2019s unnecessary appearance. Rather than the match being about a legend of the past versus the star of the present, Scott\u2019s involvement added unneeded glitz and glamour.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Scott insertion felt forced and unnecessary, in part because The Rock had abandoned the storyline he created about <\/span>Rhodes becoming his champion<\/span><\/a> and relinquishing his soul to \u201cThe Final Boss.\u201d Once The Rock removed himself from the picture, Scott\u2019s involvement should have been scrapped. According to reports, however, TKO and Emanuel specifically made the call to keep Scott in order to boost ticket sales.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given the backlash that the company received over last year\u2019s decisions, you would have thought TKO had learned its lesson about forcing unnecessary celebrity cameos. But what makes the McAfee inclusion even worse is that he has zero ties with either competitor.\u00a0 At least Scott had a prior appearance at Elimination Chamber, where Cena turned heel, delivering a slap to Rhodes\u2019 ear.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Real Story<\/b><\/h2>\n

But perhaps the most frustrating element is that WWE failed to tell the actual story that has made fans clamor for an Orton-Rhodes feud for years. Fans wanted to see both men lean into their history, including their family ties and the era where their fathers crossed paths in the ring.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bob Orton Jr. and Dusty Rhodes wrestled one-on-one between 10 and 15 times during 1975\u201376 in CWF, based in Florida, as well as in the Georgia and Mid-Atlantic regions. The two were also involved in roughly 30 tag team matches against one another.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Years later, Randy and Cody joined forces with Ted DiBiase Jr. to form The Legacy, a faction that ran from 2008 to 2010. Rhodes has frequently credited Orton with being a mentor to him during that time. Eventually, the three clashed just as most factions do, leading to a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania 26 with Orton taking the win.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fans wanted WWE to lean into the pair’s history and the pride they take in their family names, but the company decided against that approach. McAfee’s inclusion in this storyline doesn’t serve a clear purpose and detracts from the dynamic that should have been the focus, which would have raised the stakes beyond the Undisputed WWE Championship.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Past History of Meddling<\/b><\/h2>\n

As mentioned, McAfee\u2019s involvement isn\u2019t the first time TKO has gotten involved in WWE creative\u2019s decision-making. They appear to have been doing so since the companies officially merged in late 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

While we have already discussed the two most recent instances of interference, the most significant occurred in 2024 involving The Rock. Following his appointment to the TKO Board of Directors, reports surfaced that executives pushed for him to replace Cody Rhodes in the WrestleMania 40 main event against Roman Reigns.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This ended up blindsiding WWE\u2019s creative team, so much so that Triple H decided to protect Rhodes\u2019 story by having him win the Royal Rumble as a \u201cpassive-aggressive\u201d way to preserve the original storyline. This move forced TKO to pivot, ultimately leading to the \u201c<\/span>Final Boss<\/span><\/a>\u201d heel turn.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

It is worth noting that the three most critical involvements that TKO has either made or attempted to make have all revolved around Cody Rhodes. These include the attempt to pull him from the WrestleMania 40 main event, the insertion of Travis Scott into his WrestleMania 41 clash with John Cena, and the current involvement of Pat McAfee in his feud with Randy Orton.<\/span><\/p>\n

With that in mind, one begins to wonder if there is friction between TKO and Cody. Perhaps last Friday\u2019s impromptu promo, which Rhodes delivered midway into the show, was his way of saying that he\u2019s had enough.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, the foundation of WWE has always been that moments are earned rather than handed out. Yet, through these recent storylines, it appears TKO is delivering the exact opposite of that philosophy. Rather than interfering with WWE\u2019s creative process, TKO should focus on making the product better and more affordable for fans and families. To echo what CM Punk famously said this past Monday, \u201clower the ticket prices.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exactly one week ago, WWE finally delivered the grand reveal of the mystery caller Randy Orton had been speaking to. To say it fell flat with the general audience would be an understatement; it was an absolute failure. It\u2019s fairly safe to say that with all the speculation swirling online, absolutely no one had Pat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5699,"featured_media":157710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,2192,4,3],"tags":[140,98,4714,58,550,8849,75,9655],"class_list":["post-157700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-cm-punk","tag-cody-rhodes","tag-pat-mcafee","tag-randy-orton","tag-the-rock","tag-tko-holdings","tag-triple-h","tag-wwe-wrestlemania-42"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5699"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157700"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157707,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157700\/revisions\/157707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}