Randy Orton's Original WrestleMania Plans Reportedly Scrapped for Pat McAfee Angle

While the Apex Predator claims to have many voices inside his head, there was one WWE superstar who was whispering in the ear of Orton outside of his head.

Randy Orton | WWE

Randy Orton's decision to RKO Pat McAfee at the worst possible time at WrestleMania was a questionable one, to say the least. The RKO gave Rhodes time to recover, hit a Cross Rhodes on Orton, and pin him for the three count.

Orton's behavior on WWE TV has warranted a lot of questioning. Bringing in a former NFL punter to motivate a 14-time WWE World champion was odd from the beginning. It resembled Jon Stewart's involvement at SummerSlam 2015, which cost John Cena the WWE United States Championship.

Orton's WrestleMania story with Rhodes didn't begin when Pat McAfee inserted himself into the story. The story also didn't begin when Orton first demolished Rhodes on SmackDown. There was a dark voice hovering around Orton's shoulder for weeks before McAfee ever made a move and the voice's name was Aleister Black.

Aleister Black | WWE

Aleister Black was going to be the voice in Orton's head

Orton was set to face Aleister Black at WrestleMania 42, not WWE Undisputed champion Cody Rhodes. In a new report from Mike Johnson's PWInsider, it was revealed that Black was going to spend the entire road to WrestleMania trying to revert Orton back to his maniacal and sick ways.

"A pitch for Orton's WrestleMania role back in January involved SmackDown star Aleister Black tormenting Orton, trying to bring out the old Apex Predator version of Orton. The idea was that if Black succeeded, it would prove Orton had never changed or evolved and was still the old Orton deep inside," said the report.

The plans were set in motion for quite some time. There are multiple backstage segments with Black questioning Orton about the whereabouts of the real Randy Orton, but the story was put to rest in favor of McAfee's involvement. It doesn't seem likely that the phone call angle would've been used if Black were the person in McAfee's role.

Orton vs. Black was set for WrestleMania

Randy Orton | WWE

Not only was the former NXT champion set to encourage Orton into changing his ways, but he was also set to compete against Orton inside Allegiant Stadium. Black's pitch for WrestleMania also included Orton resisting hitting Black with his infamous punt kick, which would have cost Orton the match.

While Black may not have the full confidence of the WWE front office yet, it's clear Black is being talked about in an important and impactful light in creative meetings. Black competed in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on WWE Smackdown last Friday.