Following Randy Orton‘s refusal to battle WWE Champion Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania, SmackDown LIVE General Manager’s announced a battle royal to determine who will take Orton’s place in the WrestleMania main event against WWE Champion, Bray Wyatt. Most considered Orton and Wyatt to be a done deal following Bray’s win at Elimination Chamber, but with six weeks left to go until the big event, WWE felt the need to call an audible.
The decision was likely made for several reasons. One being that WWE knows modern wrestling fans have a short attention span. While Randy and Bray would be capable of drawing out the will he/won’t he story for a few weeks, simply having them ominously staring at each other under the Wrestlemania sign for six weeks would have gotten old really quickly.
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The second reason a change was made is likely due to the fact that even with their “family” history, WWE felt Orton and Wyatt alone would not be enough of a sell for Mania. With Orton bowing, quite literally, out of the picture, it temporarily leaves room for another opponent to step into the mix without Orton having to permanently give up the rights he won at the Royal Rumble.
Within the next six weeks Orton will have the opportunity to change his mind and cash in on his Rumble victory, thus inserting himself back into the main event. Considering The Viper has made a career out of striking when his opponents least expect it, the WWE Universe will be on guard until Mania arrives waiting for the servant to turn on his master.
Now that we know Orton is out of the picture temporarily, here are three possible scenarios that could make Bray Wyatt’s Wrestlemania program one for the ages.
AJ Styles
AJ was the first person announced for next week’s battle royal. AJ has been the perfect opponent for Bray. His athletic, high flying style is the best compliment for Bray’s bruising smash mouth (trademark Jim Ross) offense. Styles was the last person in the Elimination Chamber and has been one of the most protected characters of the last year.
It’s possible this entire angle with Orton not wanting in the match was done just to figure out a way to get another opponent at Mania because Wyatt and Orton don’t draw enough interest on their own.
The Deadman returns
Listen, I know this is a long shot. The Undertaker and Bray Wyatt faced off at Wrestlemania 31. Taker is currently rumored to be heading for a program with Roman Reigns for this year’s Showcase of the Immortals. All signs point to this not happening. BUT, here me out. The last time we heard from Taker he made it clear to RAW GM Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon that he was beholden to no brand.
Let’s assume for a moment that Undertaker shows up at next week’s SD battle royal. Is Daniel Bryan going to keep him out? I don’t think so. The Undertaker would be the perfect opponent to win the battle royal and then have a battle of mind games with Bray for the fate of Randy Orton’s soul. This could lead to a triple threat match with Orton and Taker at Mania.
The conflict between Orton and Wyatt could lead to Taker claiming one final WWE Championship before he hangs up his boots.
Wyatt Family Triple Threat
The best case scenario for Bray’s Wrestlemania story is to have Luke Harper win next week’s battle royal and over the next six weeks Randy decides to cash in his Rumble victory and enter the match “just to protect his master.” This would set up an interesting scenario where Orton could reveal during the match that he was setting up Bray Wyatt all along. While this long play would seem to be a bit nonsensical, the pay off of Orton hitting Wyatt with an RKO “outtanowhere” would be well worth it.
During the Elimination Chamber match between Orton and Harper, the SD announcers made a great effort to put over Harper’s performance as one that turned him into a star. As we saw with Harper’s appearance before last night’s main event, the former Wyatt Family member is really getting a great reaction as a babyface.
Even if he’s only in the match to provide another layer to Orton and Wyatt’s feud, it will go a long way to making him a main event player in the future.
