Pat McAfee reveals birth of second child after pregnancy complications 

WWE’s Pat McAfee announced the birth of his second child, a son, with wife Samantha.

He shared a lengthy post on X revealing that the new addition to the family, Midas Robert McAfee was born on May 22. However, there were pregnancy complications which led to a C-Section birth due to preeclampsia. He added that Midas spent time in the NICU after being born at 36 weeks. He expressed appreciation for his wife during the time, and assisted her through recovery. 

“Please help @MrsMcAfeeShow, Mackenzie, and I welcome Midas Robert McAfee to our family.. Due to Samantha having a high risk pregnancy and severe preeclampsia, the decision was made to have an emergency C-Section on Friday night. Baby boy officially entered the world on May 22nd at 10:42PM as a 6lb 6oz screaming young legend… 10 Toes, 10 Fingers, full head of hair.”

“Literally in his first moments of life, Midas was working… He was able to get his O2 Levels high enough to be able to come hang with us in our room and because of that we got to do all of the immediate magical newborn moments.. Skin to skin, 10,000 kisses, tons of love, all of that.. inevitably, since he came into the world at 36 Weeks (40 is full term), he had to develop his lungs a little bit more, get some fluid out of him, and adjust a bit to life outside of Sam’s stomach.. So, he was sent to the NICU to help the transition from the womb to the world.”

“As mom was recovering like a badass from the mind boggling C-Section surgery, little dude was DAHN the hall.. They put a CPAP on our guy, a feeding tube, and put him in a heated pod with a heating lamp to help him develop a bit more. There wasn’t much I could do other than bring positive vibes as I bounced back and forth between the 2.”

“Watching Samantha battle thru her recovery has been nothing short of inspiring, WE APPRECIATE YOU @MrsMcAfeeShow, I will be sure that our kids will know how much you went thru for them.. And every time I went and saw boy, I couldn’t help but fantasize about what his life could become.. So many dreams and opportunities waiting for this young stud. We had a sneaky suspicion that he was a dawg and a fighter but, it is a bit scary to see your baby hooked up to so many “very serious” things.. He ended up staying roughly 36 hours in the NICU before being released back to our room… a FULL CELEBRATION occured. We’ve been floating around this room.. sleeping and burping and feeding and changing diapers ever since. We’re looking to get back home to our 3 year old baby girl today or tomorrow. We can’t wait for her to meet her baby brother.. Her grandparents have been doing a PHENOMENAL job of keeping her informed and also distracted while we’ve been living in this hospital.. we are VERY THANKFUL for them.”

“The name “Midas” has been the name I’d hoped to name my baby boy, if I was to ever have kids, since my Freshman year of high school when Mrs Nonnenberg (RIP Legend) taught me about Greek Mythology.. Like most, when you come from not a lot, the thought of everything you touch becoming gold was certainly an immediate draw for me but in this world that we live in, gold can only come from working your ass off, getting lucky, and having great folks around you. The name is perfect for the boy that Sam and I would like to raise. He will be an asset to society, he will treat folks right, and he will work his ass off to help his community achieve their own form of “gold.” 

““Robert” is a tribute to Samantha’s dad and best friend.. A man that we lost way too soon a couple of years back and will now live on forever thru Mighty Midas. Midas will know his grandfather thru our stories and pictures.. and we know Bob will be looking out for Midas for all of time.”

“So on this Memorial Day we say Thank You to those who gave everything to this country that we call home.. and we will use their stories as guidance for our young boy about a life lived right.”

“We Love You Midas… Welcome to the McAfee family. We will do everything we can for you, brother.”

“p.s. Midas has already watched the closest Indy 500 of all time. The Vegas Golden Knights HUGE game 3 comeback… AND of course, Top Gun Maverick.” 

Eric Bischoff says no one ever pulled out of a celebrity angle in WCW like Pat McAfee did

It was recently revealed by F4W’s own Dave Meltzer that Pat McAfee pulled out of his angle at WrestleMania 42 following the backlash (no pun intended) online and the sentiment from fans that it was not the way the Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton angle should’ve gone.

Speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, former WCW President Eric Bischoff addressed McAfee “pulling out” of the angle and how it compared to some of the celebrity angles he ran whilst running World Championship Wrestling.

Eric Bischoff on Pat McAfee fallout

Co-host Conrad Thompson noted: “Do you remember there being celebrities where, it seemed like a good idea on paper and everyone was excited about it, but once you revealed it and in execution somewhere along the way, the celebrity said, ‘Hey, I know we talked about this, but I’m not having as much fun as I thought, I think I’m going to take a pass.’ We saw it happen last year at WrestleMania with Travis Scott and now this year at Pat McAfee, did something like this ever happen with you and WCW?”

Bischoff then confirmed that “Not, no, not as you [Conrad] described it, no, nothing even close, nothing even close. And I’m just trying to imagine what that must be like for Bruce [Prichard] and Paul [Leveque], everybody that has to do with talent, certainly at this level…Nick Khan and probably Ari [Emanuel] to a degree.”

“If you’re a Pat McAfee or a Jelly Roll, you don’t want that smoke. You don’t want, you’re not that kind, you know, now it’s hurting your brand. Now you’re not as cool as you were before you stepped into the ring.”

It is not confirmed if McAfee will be returning to the company anytime soon, although it does appear that he has left the wrestling business at least for the time being.

If you use any of the transcriptions on this page then please link back to this page referencing F4WOnline

WOL: Filthy & Lance Storm review AEW Dynamite, hotel security, Bunnie Roll

Wrestling Observer Live is back in the house with “Filthy” Tom Lawlor and Lance Storm with TONS to talk about including a full AEW Dynamite report, parting gifts from Pat McAfee & Jelly Roll, and a discussion about fans.

A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Update on Pat McAfee’s WWE storyline being dropped | Exclusive

It was Pat McAfee’s decision for his WWE storyline to end.

McAfee had been planned to team with Randy Orton against Jelly Roll and Cody Rhodes at Backlash next month. However, when Rhodes defeated Orton at WrestleMania, the stipulation was that McAfee would have to officially leave wrestling.

On Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed what led to McAfee’s storyline being dropped.

“With the Pat McAfee thing, he opted out, so that’s what actually led to everything changing,” Meltzer said on the show.

“That’s why the tag match from Backlash was taken off. Orton and McAfee against Jelly Roll and Cody Rhodes, which Cody Rhodes may not be okay for Backlash anyway, you know with that eye.”

On Wednesday, Jelly Roll sent a message to McAfee saying it was time for both of them to go back to what they are good at.

Meltzer said both Jelly Roll and McAfee were aware of the backlash from fans regarding celebrity involvement at WrestleMania.

“They were very cognizant of what has been said about celebrities in wrestling and both of them love wrestling and I think that they realized that there was a lot of negative sentiment about it. And they listened and they understood and I think they saw the fan side of it. And I think that that’s what led to this.”

Meltzer continued, noting that while he does not know the exact reason McAfee pulled out, the belief in WWE was that it was due to the fan reaction.

“I was told that the belief was that it was due to the reaction that he pulled out. It wasn’t like anything else.”

Meltzer noted that more information about what happened backstage at WrestleMania will be available in tomorrow’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

The post-AEW Dynamite episode of Wrestling Observer Radio this week is available for subscribers here.

Jelly Roll suggests he & Pat McAfee ‘get back to what we’re good at’ following WrestleMania 42

The inclusion of Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll into the Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton WWE WrestleMania 42 program was met with mixed reaction, to say the least.

In his new vlog featuring some of the action from this past weekend, the hit musician suggested both he and the sports talk star get out of the WWE spotlight for a while and back to their respective industries.

While being driving in a golf cart backstage at Allegiant Stadium, Jelly Roll said, “I had one goal tonight and I kind of succeeded. Pat, I love you man. Neither one of us had any business here. I say we get back to what we’re good at. man, even though I’m not actually really good at anything. But you’re great at something, so go do it. I’ll keep searching for what I’m going to do when I grow up.”

The video showed him the night before backstage at SmackDown, saying hi to Damian Priest and Trick Williams before watching the show with his son and friends in a luxury box. It then moved to night one of WrestleMania with him saying hi to music producer and wrestling fan Rick Rubin and John Cena while also watching the show from a box.

The clip of him elbowing McAfee through the announcers’ table was shown followed by him joking he needed to frame the picture of him “levitating” above McAfee.

At one point, it was believed WWE was building to a Jelly Roll/Rhodes vs. McAfee/Orton match but that appears to be a no go after McAfee held to his pre-Mania word that if Orton lost, he would be gone from WWE forever.

Pat McAfee: WWE ‘doesn’t need to be saved after all’

Pat McAfee is claiming to be done with pro wrestling after WWE WrestleMania 42.

Going into Mania, McAfee said he would leave the wrestling business forever if Randy Orton did not win the Undisputed WWE Championship. With Cody Rhodes retaining, McAfee claimed on his ESPN show today that he is sticking to that stipulation. McAfee gave Rhodes his props and said Rhodes proved that WWE does not need to be saved after all.

“The good news is, the business doesn’t need to be saved after all. And good for them. And for me, I finished my story,” McAfee said. “I came up in the indies, IWA East Coast. I went through development, NXT. I was a wrestler, trained by Rip Rogers, the same guy that trained everybody that’s retiring kind of currently, out of OVW…

“Get to WWE, commentated, lucky to do that. Did pre-shows, lucky to do that. Wrestled, lucky to do that. Reffed, lucky to do that. Managed, lucky to do that. It’s been a hell of a run. Thank you, wrestling. It was an honor to be over there.”

McAfee has kept kayfabe by wearing a neck brace since being put through a table by Jelly Roll during the Rhodes vs. Orton WrestleMania match. There was also a spot where Orton turned against McAfee and gave him an RKO.

“Maybe he didn’t know it was me,” McAfee said about the RKO. “[But] it felt like he knew.”

Whether McAfee is actually done with WWE for any considerable amount of time remains to be seen. The Rhodes vs. Orton feud was kept alive coming out of WrestleMania (once Rhodes is over his eye injury), but McAfee’s involvement in the angle looks to have ended.

“The wrestling business just kind of — rearview mirror,” McAfee said. “And to the wrestling business, I’d like to say: thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.”

The Pat McAfee build was awful, but the WrestleMania ‘reset’ was almost worse | Opinion

Pat McAfee being inserted into the Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton match at WrestleMania 42 was a terrible idea. It was such a terrible idea, in fact, that the company appeared to try and reset the entire angle on Saturday night by having Randy hit McAfee with an RKO in the closing stretches of the contest.

Cody Rhodes and Jelly Roll vs Randy Orton and Pat McAfee at Backlash

The plan originally appeared to be to put Cody Rhodes and Jelly Roll in a tag match against Randy Orton and Pat McAfee at Backlash next month. Our own Dave Meltzer reported that recently, and while I wouldn’t put it past WWE to pivot just to try and get one over on some reporters, I think the overall reaction to McAfee’s involvement from fans, especially how it appeared to overshadow Orton trying to go for World title number 15, meant they felt like they had to do something drastic at ‘Mania.

What was incredibly grating about the change-up wasn’t just that it appeared patently obvious on the show, it was the fact that they started a storyline and then tried to reset it at the biggest show of the year. Granted, I said previously how I felt this was WCW 2000 levels of storytelling, but if you’re going to start something then you need to end it in a satisfying way.

WWE maybe could’ve got away with this, if it was on a smaller show than WrestleMania, but Randy turning on McAfee, then punting Rhodes after the main event was a convoluted overcorrection on ESPN Unlimited’s first WrestleMania (which was already plagued by streaming issues).

You started, so you should finish

Again, I did not like how this story was built going into WrestleMania 42, but course correcting during the main event of Night 1 feels incredibly forced and a hat on a hat (or a swerve on a swerve). Was this designed to make Randy look like MORE of a heel coming out of the show? Well that didn’t work because people couldn’t wait to see him hit the Punt again. Was it a way of getting McAfee out of the way? Then why bring him in the first place if you aren’t going to pay off on the storyline? McAfee technically should be out of pro wrestling FOREVER now, if we’re going by the stipulation.

WCW 2000 levels of storytelling

They’ve booked themselves into a corner here, because we didn’t get the satisfying conclusion of Cody taking out McAfee in triumphant fashion, the heel took out the guy that was in his corner before pushing him out of the company. We now are either going to get a messy ending to McAfee’s WWE career or the stipulation will be rendered pointless because he’ll be back in a week…either way, that’s just poor storytelling.

I said it before and I’ll say it again, WWE in 2026 is not as bad as WCW in the year 2000, but storylines like this wouldn’t have felt out of place on a Nitro or Thunder at the turn of the century. Whether there are too many people trying to get involved (Ari Emanuel), someone has to take charge and just make storytelling decisions that take us from A to B in a satisfying way rather than have to throw swerves on storylines that feel like they were built by committee rather than a coherent, singular voice.

Cody Rhodes retains WWE title at WrestleMania 42 in bloody match

Cody Rhodes remained undisputed WWE Champion after night one of WWE WrestleMania 42, defeating Randy Orton in a bloody match that also featured the end of Orton’s tenure with Pat McAfee.

The ending sequence saw Orton accidentally take out referee Charles Robinson with an RKO followed by an attempted low blow on Rhodes. Rhodes then hit his own low blow, but Orton countered a Cody Cutter with an RKO.

McAfee, Orton’s mystery man revealed on the phone several weeks ago, ran out with a referee shirt and a neck brace, but Rhodes still kicked out. It was intimated McAfee was friendly with TKO and perhaps authorized to make the count, but that was never followed up on.

Orton then hit McAfee with an RKO followed by Rhodes hitting Orton with a Cross Rhodes for pin and win. Orton hit him with the title belt afterward and hit his old school punt, standing over him with the title belt to end the show.

By his own words, this means McAfee will no longer appear on WWE TV.

The reason McAfee was in an neck brace was that he attacked Rhodes before the bell with a microphone. However, Rhodes rallied, took out Orton, and then took out McAfee with a Cross Rhodes. He put McAfee on the Spanish announce table when Jelly Roll appeared. The musician got up on the other announce table, flipped McAfee off, and hit him with an elbow drop through the table. McAfee was then stretchered out with Jelly Roll never to be seen again.

Both Orton and Rhodes were bloodied up at different points in the match. An Orton back injury was played up on commentary during the match and after the show, which played into the match at several points.

The match was just under 23 minutes and was the first defense in Rhodes’ second run with the title he regained last month. Orton remains without a World title run for nearly six years.

WOL: What is WWE’s post-WrestleMania plan?

It’s the Saturday Wrestling Observer Live with Jim Valley just hours before tonight’s first night of WWE WrestleMania 42…

…not that you’d know from the way SmackDown ended Friday night with Cody Rhodes and CM Punk hugging.

Where were all the celebrities who’ve been on TV for weeks? Was that a response to fan reaction or a creative decision? The past few years, WrestleMania hasn’t been well planned out. Will this year be different?

Plus, Jim talks about the WWE Hall of Fame, Bloodsport, ROH Supercard of Honor, JCW, Joey Janela’s Spring Break and more.

Check it out.

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Pat McAfee mentions AEW while trolling fans at WWE World

Heading into WrestleMania, Pat McAfee tried to get some more heat on himself by trolling fans at WWE World.

A screen displayed at the convention on Friday teased that a “huge surprise” would be happening. But when the countdown clock ran out, McAfee’s show started playing. He called the attendees “dumb marks” for thinking there was actually going to be a big surprise like a star from AEW crossing over into WWE.

“Surprise, nerds,” McAfee yelled. “The surprise that you thought was maybe going to be your favorite wrestler of all time. Maybe somebody from AEW was going to sign with WWE at WrestleMania and you marks were going to get zipper burn all over yourself. Instead, well, well, well, Pat McAfee is smarter than all of you dumb marks yet again.”

McAfee was not in Las Vegas yet but told everyone he would be by SmackDown tonight, continuing to insult the fans by saying that he could already smell them from where he was.

The build to WrestleMania 42 took a turn two weeks ago when McAfee returned to WWE programming and aligned with Randy Orton. Playing a heel, McAfee has promised to save the business by helping to get Orton elevated back to the top of the card. He will be in Orton’s corner for the main event of WrestleMania 42 night one this Saturday, where Orton is challenging Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship.

While there’s been backlash from fans over McAfee’s inclusion in the WrestleMania build, Paul “Triple H” Levesque told ESPN today that he believes it’s a good thing that McAfee has people talking about WrestleMania.

McAfee has promised to leave WWE forever if Orton does not win on Saturday.

Wrestling Weekly: WWE WrestleMania 42 weekend, the new AEW World Champion

It’s WWE WrestleMania 42 weekend and on a new Wrestling Weekly, Les Thatcher and Vic Sosa are back to make their predictions for all the matches on both nights.

They also discuss the new AEW World Champion Darby Allin.

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

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Triple H: Love him or hate him, Pat McAfee makes people talk

Paul “Triple H” Levesque is happy that Pat McAfee has people talking heading into WrestleMania 42.

WWE’s Chief Content Officer stopped by ESPN’s First Take on Friday morning to preview this weekend’s show. While discussing the Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton night one main event, Levesque teased that we could potentially see McAfee have some physical involvement with someone getting payback on him.

“There’s something on the horizon for this, for sure. You know, when you run your mouth as much as Pat does, eventually somebody is going to try to shut it,” Levesque said. “Really, as a WWE fan, what I’m really looking forward to is that moment — mentor-student, Cody Rhodes-Randy Orton, locking up over that WWE Championship. It’s just a moment that transcends a couple of generations to me, and that’s what’s really cool about it.”

McAfee will be in Orton’s corner for the Undisputed WWE Championship match. Though McAfee’s inclusion in the storyline has brought a lot of criticism from fans, Levesque thinks it’s always good when people are talking about the product.

Levesque was asked if he feels any added pressure when fans question his decisions.

“It’s always pressure, but the thing is — talk is good, right? People are talking,” he responded. “And that’s a good thing. Love him or hate him, Pat makes people talk. I think that’s what is important here, is people are talking. This is going to be an amazing show. This will be incredible, and it will deliver on all levels.”

Each night of WrestleMania 42 has a start time of 6 p.m. Eastern, streaming live on the ESPN app in the United States and on Netflix internationally this Saturday and Sunday.

Wade Barrett says WWE commentators were ‘shocked’ by Pat McAfee’s return

Wade Barrett and WWE commentators were not informed of Pat McAfee’s return last month. 

In an exclusive interview with Sporf, Barrett stated that Joe Tessitore and his reaction to McAfee’s involvement in Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton’s feud was legitimate. He revealed that there were blank pages on the sheet with the show’s rundown. 

“Well, I was very surprised when Pat McAfee came out with the Randy Orton stuff on SmackDown. Sometimes there are blank pages on the sheet that I get as a commentator. That was blank. I had no idea Pat McAfee was coming out, I didn’t know what he was gonna say, so it was a shock to me, and it was a shock to Joe Tess on commentary, too. We were caught just as cold as the entire audience, and I was scratching my head. I didn’t really understand why Pat was saying certain things. He was taking shots at people who didn’t deserve to have a shot taken at them. He was also coming up with some references to 40-minute Ironman matches, and I don’t know what show he was watching there. So, yeah, I was caught cold by it. I enjoyed Cody when he came out and issued his immediate retort. And then I was laughing so hard when I watched CM Punk on Raw last Monday, one of the funniest promos and retorts that I think I’ve seen in a long time.”

Barrett complimented the brilliance of McAfee’s addition leaving everyone pondering on his association with the feud and the sentiment around it. 

“I think the brilliance of this whole situation, it’s gone from an initial head scratcher to now the lines have been completely blurred, and I don’t know what is storyline, what is real life. Are they angry? I think when you get to that point, it just creates buzz, and I think the three of those guys you just mentioned have created some serious buzz going into WrestleMania. I think some people are up in arms about it. Other people are angry that CM Punk said some things that he perhaps shouldn’t have said, and went off-script, as people like to call it. I’ve been watching this game a long time, I’ve been behind the curtain for over 20 years at this point. I don’t know where the reality ends and the story begins at this point, so they’ve got me too. So I think it’s exactly what you need this time of year, heading into WrestleMania. You want buzz, you want people talking, you want eyeballs on it. Whether this is by design or by accident, whatever it is, it’s worked.”

On the April 3 edition of SmackDown, McAfee was revealed to be Orton’s mystery caller, being his backup for his WrestleMania match against Rhodes. The segment garnered much backlash from fans given McAfee’s disassociation with the storyline. 

CM Punk called out McAfee’s interference labeling him a ‘tourist in the wrestling business’ which further led to a back and forth between the two. 

Roman Reigns fires back at CM Punk ahead of WWE WrestleMania 42

Roman Reigns did not take lightly to CM Punk’s latest comments targeting his schedule, calling himself a fighting champion and that he is coddled by WWE management. 

Reigns was evidently infuriated in his response on X to promote their fight on WrestleMania Sunday. He dismissed Punk’s claim to be a fighting champion citing he’s only defended it three times in his one year reign. He brought up Punk’s tenure on the indies and called it an embarrassment.

“You defended the title three times. You’ve had it the whole year. You’re not a fighting champion. You’re not even a fighter. We’ve seen how that went. Coddled? By management? Because I’m money! And they’ve known that since the beginning. I told them I’m an unsigned billion dollar check. Go back and find it. It’s in the archives.”

“You don’t have that type of confidence because you’re not the type of man I am. You’re not cut from the same fabric as me. It blows my mind that you think we’re f*cking equals, in which way? It’s only gonna take the first couple of minutes for the whole world to see there’s no way we could ever be on the same level.”

“Coddled, the whole industry coddles you just by having you in it. You talk about the old times, those were tough guys. We’ve seen what happens when you try to be a tough guy. We put our whole reputation, the whole art form on the line for you, because what 100,000 internet marks love you from the beginning? Let’s go back to your journey days when you were on the Indies, it was the sh*ts, an embarrassment. There’s not a legend in my family that respects you. You’re the reason we don’t let marks in the business. Keep my f*cking name at your mouth on Sunday it ends for you.”

Pat McAfee also responded to Reigns’ post against Punk. Their tension stemmed from Punk calling out McAfee for getting involved in WWE and indicating he was a corporate stooge.

“It’s all starting to come together for you IWC nerds isn’t it? Your time is up…  The Business is about to be saved by Randy Orton on Saturday night.. and then Roman will drive it home on Sunday Night”

Reigns and Punk will collide in the main event of Night Two at WrestleMania this weekend. After his Royal Rumble win, Reigns chose to face Punk stating that it stemmed from his hate for him. In the weeks that followed they had multiple face-offs in which Punk made personal remarks about Sika Anoa’i and the rest of Reigns’ family. 

Cody Rhodes takes back WWE title, trashes The Pat McAfee Show studio

Cody Rhodes has taken back the WWE Championship belt.

On WWE SmackDown on Friday night, Pat McAfee had left with the title following his and Randy Orton’s segment with Rhodes.

On Thursday, The Pat McAfee Show opened with McAfee explaining that Rhodes had entered their studio the previous evening, trashed the set, and took back the WWE Championship belt.

McAfee said on the show:

“A person whose self-proclaimed name is the American Nightmare, is just that. He’s a criminal. Last night, obviously, something devastating happened to our entire Thunderdome.”

McAfee then played security footage that showed Rhodes trashing the studio, spiking a computer on the ground, and retrieving the title belt before leaving.

McAfee continues:

“And on his way out, while DaBone is doing nothing yet again, he spikes my computer, my only computer. So Cody just walks out, no problem. Then he goes on Instagram and posts a video of himself leaving, playing my song while boarding a plane.”

McAfee will be in Randy Orton’s corner at WWE WrestleMania 42 this weekend as Orton looks to win his 15th world title against Rhodes. He was revealed two weeks ago as the person Orton had been speaking to on the phone in recent weeks. McAfee has also been telling the storyline that WrestleMania ticket sales are down due to wrestlers such as Rhodes.

McAfee discussing Rhodes trashing their studio and taking back the WWE Championship belt is available in the clip below: