Pat McAfee Leaves WWE, Praises Cody Rhodes, Talks Randy Orton's RKO & Jelly Roll WrestleMania Splash

After his involvement in the Undisputed WWE Championship match between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42, Pat McAfee is putting his wrestling days behind him.

During Monday's episode of The Pat McAfee Show, McAfee declared that he's leaving WWE and praised Rhodes for his resilience in retaining his Undisputed WWE Championship:

McAfee added that he suffered a neck injury after taking a splash through the table by Jelly Roll and an RKO from Orton. He said he's awaiting the results of his scans to determine the severity of his injuries.

"I'm wearing this thing since I got Jelly Roll'd," McAfee said of his neck brace. "I'm wearing this just to keep it secure. They ran scans. I'll get it back tomorrow morning. I'm very grateful and hopeful that I will be completely healthy. But there is some soreness, obviously."

McAfee added that the neck injury wasn't the only ailment that he's been dealing with since his involvement in the Night 1 main event on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

"Got some cuts and bruises, too," he said. "Hand right here, cut. I think that's because the table exploded. I got some shrapnel, and somehow I got a splinter in my crotch."

McAfee had made sporadic appearances in WWE since 2018 and worked as a color commentator since 2021. He had to leave the commentary desk in 2025 due to his duties with ESPN, but he was inserted into the feud between Rhodes and Orton as an ally of the Viper, which didn't go over well with fans.

When it was all said and done, Orton turned on McAfee before Rhodes was able to score the win. Orton got the last laugh with a brutal post-match beatdown of Rhodes, but McAfee gave the advantage to the champion.

"So I would like to let everybody know that although the mission was supposed to be Randy Orton saving the business, I think what happened instead was Cody Rhodes proving he's the one," McAfee said. "Cody Rhodes was obviously very admirable. Randy Orton is still everything that I said he was, but the good news is the business doesn't need to be saved after all."