Randy Orton turns on Bray Wyatt, commits arson (Video)

Randy Orton put down the facade on WWE SmackDown, turning on Bray Wyatt and setting fire to their ‘kingdom’

Initially, the thought of Randy Orton joining Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family seemed curious to say the least. With each passing week, though, it appeared as if this possibly should’ve been the plan all along. Orton and his snake persona were a perfect complement to Bray while also being a believable point of contention for Luke Harper. One win at the WWE Royal Rumble later, though, and things seemed like they may get complicated. Those complications increased after Wyatt won the title at Elimination Chamber.

However, Orton seemed to put it all to rest after the Chamber show saying that he refused to fight Wyatt at WWE WrestleMania 33. The next week, Bray lauded him for following and gave him the “keys to his kingdom.” Tuesday night on SmackDown that would be a decision that Wyatt would rue.

With Wyatt on in the ring, Randy Orton was not beside him. Instead, he appeared on the Titantron inside the Wyatt cabin. From there, he spoke cryptically as possible, before flipping the switch. The Viper confirmed that this was all an act. Moreover, he said that he was coming for Bray’s title at Mania—all of that before setting fire to the structure that contained the spirit of Sister Abigail:

With this segment in addition to the moment between the quartet of John Cena, Nikki Bella, Maryse and The Miz, SmackDown was 100 percent on-point with their promo segments. This might’ve been one of the best of his entire career, and that’s not hyperbole.

Next: Ranking All WrestleManias In History

However, we now face the drama of what happens with A.J. Styles, who was named No. 1 contender earlier in the show as well. Regardless, the build to WrestleMania started its climb to critical mass on Tuesday—and Randy Orton put himself at the heart of it as Bray Wyatt’s adversary.