WWE Under Fire After Blocking ESPN Reporter From WrestleMania 42

ESPN and WWE are united.

The two mega companies came together last year, and since their broadcast deal, they’ve become synchronized in their efforts.

It’s gotten to the point that ESPN is so involved with WWE that Pat McAfee, the connecting personality between the two companies, is now one of the main characters leading into WrestleMania 42 this weekend.

WWE wants ticket sales, and ESPN wants people to buy its premium service. They believe, alongside WWE’s umbrella company TKO, that McAfee is the best way to do that.

So you’d think that if someone were employed by ESPN and wanted to cover WrestleMania, they’d have embedded access across the entire two-night spectacle.

Well, that isn’t the case.

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Andreas Hale, the combat sports writer for ESPN who has covered WWE extensively for the website, announced today that his credentials had been denied and he won’t be covering WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas.

Hale came into the media spotlight last year when he gave WWE’s first show on ESPN, Wrestlepalooza, a “C” in his official review for the online vertical. After the middling grade and other reviews, ESPN stopped letting Hale or any other writer give grades on WWE’s events.

The blocking of Hale from this year’s show has made an already controversial week for WWE even worse, as fans and reporters alike have stood up for Hale in the aftermath of his coverage denial.

On a night when an ESPN personality will be in the ring during the main event of the show with Pat McAfee, one of the company’s leading journalists won’t be allowed in the press box.

Sometimes the storylines outside the wrestling ring can be more interesting than the ones on the television show.

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This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 12:26 PM.