Pat McAfee arrived on WWE SmackDown tonight, a week after his surprise return. During his in-ring segment on the blue brand, he dropped a major reference to the company’s rival promotion, AEW.

On the April 10 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, the former NFL punter came out for an in-ring segment. He was advertised to drop a surprise announcement, which turned out to be McAfee pulling some strings to make WrestleMania 42 Saturday tickets available at a 25% discount for a limited time period. At the same time, he delivered some fiery words against Cody Rhodes after he sided with his WrestleMania opponent, Randy Orton, last week on SmackDown.

This drew the ire of The American Nightmare, who came out to the ring to confront, although Nick Aldis had told him earlier that he was not allowed to touch Pat McAfee. Despite that, Rhodes gave a befitting reply to McAfee’s words, following which he began to leave the ringside area. As he was walking up the entrance ramp, McAfee called him an ‘Elite runway artist,’ taking a shot at his time in All Elite Wrestling, the company he helped found in 2019.

“You’ve always been an ‘Elite’ runaway artist, huh StarDust? Where you going Cody, to suck Triple H’s A**?!”- H/T The Movement – Pro Wrestling on X

At the end of the segment, Randy Orton appeared on the screen and attacked Jelly Roll. He then came down to the ring and, alongside Pat McAfee, delivered another beatdown on Rhodes before the duo walked away with his Undisputed WWE Championship and left the arena.

Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton will main event Night 1 of WWE WrestleMania 42

It has been made official that the match between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton for the Undisputed WWE Championship will headline WrestleMania 42 Saturday. This was a primary reason for Pat McAfee to get the discount offer for fans for only that particular night.

At the same time, the match is driven by a storied history and recent tensions between the two superstars. With the stage set for this epic collision, it remains to be seen who will leave Las Vegas as the World Champion.