The road to WrestleMania has been full of twists and turns and Pat McAfee inserted himself into the Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton feud weeks ago. McAfee advised Orton and encouraged him to remember who he was as The Viper became more ruthless in recent weeks.
PWInsider is reporting that there was a pitch for Randy Orton’s WrestleMania role back in January that involved Aleister Black tormenting Orton as he tried to bring back the Apex Predator version of the character. The idea was if Black succeeded it would prove that Orton had never changed, or evolved, and was still the same old Randy Orton.
Part of the idea was for Black and Orton to face off on WrestleMania weekend, with Orton hesitating to use his punt kick, and likely lose. Orton would then later attack Cody Rhodes as a WrestleMania angle and use the punt kick to bring back the Apex Predator and prove Black right.
At this point it’s not clear how far the pitch got, but elements of the original plan were worked into Pat McAfee’s role, including the return of the Apex Predator, and Orton using the punt kick at WrestleMania. The belief is that McAfee’s role essentially replaced what was pitched for Black.