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ESPN is putting the full heft of its network behind promoting WWE WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas.
This weekend’s extravaganza marks the first WrestleMania—WWE’s equivalent of the Super Bowl—in the five-year, $1.6 billion deal for ESPN to stream the wrestling giant’s premium live events (PLEs) as part of its Unlimited package on its app.
The first hour of WrestleMania on Saturday will be simulcast on ESPN2, featuring an “unsanctioned match” between Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre, as well as a six-man tag match with Logan Paul, Austin Theory, and IShowSpeed facing LA Knight and the Usos. Sunday’s first hour will simulcast on the main ESPN network and includes the highly anticipated match between Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar. Each night will also have a one-hour Countdown preceding the simulcast.
While it has not been uncommon in recent years to see a main-eventer here or there on ESPN programming in the lead-up to ‘Mania, this year, the network is pulling out all the stops.
Friday, First Take will be on-site in Vegas with Stephen A. Smith, Shae Cornette, and Kendrick Perkins. SportsCenter will also have a strong presence beginning Thursday and continuing through the weekend, with Joe Fortenbaugh, Treavor Scales, Randy Scott, and Gary Striewski leading coverage. Joe Tessitore and Peter Rosenberg, who are both dual talents for ESPN and WWE, have been appearing regularly on ESPN’s studio programming to promote the event, as has retired pro wrestler Big E. Most of the major stars on WWE’s active roster are also making appearances on the network.
Furthermore, O’Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson’s popular No‑Contest Wrestling podcast will air on ESPN2 at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday.
“WrestleMania is a once in a lifetime experience that resonates with every type of fan,” ESPN’s SVP of sports studio & entertainment Mike Foss said in a statement. “The environment is electric, and we can’t wait to capture that energy within SportsCenter, First Take, and our presence at WWE World. It will be an unforgettable week as we witness Pat McAfee saving the business and document this historic spectacle for ESPN.”
As Foss alluded to, McAfee has inserted himself into the Saturday night main-event angle. The former All-Pro punter worked as a WWE color commentator for several years during the football offseason, and his eponymous show is simulcast on ESPN.
This is going to sound silly for anyone uninitiated in pro wrestling, but here it goes.
Randy Orton is the No. 1 contender for the WWE championship, which is currently held by Cody Rhodes. For weeks, Orton was teasing phone calls with a mystery acquaintance, who had successfully urged him to turn heel on Rhodes. Orton and Rhodes are both the sons of famous wrestlers and were once stablemates during the early days of Rhodes’s career. The way Orton’s phone calls were staged made it seem like the conversations were with a mystery legend who had a connection to both.
Just kidding! The mystery muse was McAfee, who earlier this year said WWE had passed him by and there was no spot for him, but nonetheless returned to kick Rhodes square in the family jewels. Word quickly spread to pro wrestling media that McAfee was inserted into this angle at the behest of WME and TKO chieftain Ari Emanuel, who recent reports indicated is repping McAfee as a talent agent and trying to turn him into the next Sly Stallone. (Emanuel was famously the inspiration for Ari in HBO’s Entourage.)
Whether it’s actually true that Emanuel made the call or this is a case of WWE working the audience into a lather—or some combination of the two—a vocal contingent of WWE fans has been livid at the idea of outsiders meddling with their wrestling and is hoping to see McAfee get some sort of comeuppance for “ruining” a story nearly 20 years in the making. Despite the polarizing reaction to the storyline, WWE is pushing forward, with the latest twist being Rhodes destroying McAfee’s Thunderdome in Indianapolis to retrieve his stolen title in an off-air segment.
