Randy Ortons WrestleMania 42 plans almost looked very different and it didnt originally involve Pat McAfee at all. According to PWInsider, new details reveal that the role ultimately played by Pat McAfee at WrestleMania actually replaced an earlier creative pitch involving Aleister Black and Randy Orton. It was noted that WWE originally planned a much darker storyline centered around Black psychologically pushing Orton to embrace his old Apex Predator persona again. The idea was built around Black targeting Orton in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania, trying to prove that Orton hadnt truly changed. From there, the story wouldve escalated into a WrestleMania weekend bout, with Orton struggling internally and hesitating to fully embrace his darker side. The planned match between the two wouldve ended with Orton holding back at a key moment specifically refusing to use his signature punt kick ultimately costing him the match. But the story wasnt supposed to end there. The pitch included a major post-match angle that wouldve tied directly into Cody Rhodes. While its unclear how far this version made it through WWEs creative process, parts of it clearly survived just in a different form. In the end, Pat McAfees involvement including the chaos before the bell and the post-match fallout effectively replaced Blacks role in the story. So, the WrestleMania angle fans saw still carried the core idea of Orton reverting back to his most dangerous self, but the path there changed completely. Instead of a slow psychological breakdown led by Aleister Black, WWE pivoted to a more chaotic angle with Pat McAfee while still landing on the same end result: the return of the Apex Predator. Do you think WWE shouldve stuck with the original Aleister Black storyline, or did the Pat McAfee version work better for WrestleMania? Let us know your thoughts. G Add as a preferred source on Google
