WWE WrestleMania 33: Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton now set

One of the top-billed matchups for WWE WrestleMania 33 became finalized after SmackDown as Randy Orton will face Bray Wyatt

The creative team at WWE SmackDown Live was put in an unenviable position simply in terms of timing. Not only did they face the same challenge as RAW in trying to fill time between Royal Rumble and WWE WrestleMania 33, but also the disadvantage of having Elimination Chamber be just two weeks after the Rumble. Thus, they had even more time to fill than the bookers on RAW.

Despite how difficult of task that may seem, though, it’s been quite interesting to watch how they’ve progressed with Bray Wyatt as champion. Following his win at the Chamber and with Orton as the winner of the Rumble match, The Viper declined to face his then-mentor. That then led to AJ Styles and Luke Harper both hitting the ground at the same time in a No. 1 Contender battle royal. Styles won the match against Harper to earn the right—but that was before Orton revealed his plan and turned on Wyatt.

Ultimately that led to Tuesday night’s episode of SmackDown with Orton and Styles going 1-on-1 to determine the true No. 1 Contender and who Wyatt would face at WWE WrestleMania 33. When the bell finally rang, it was after Orton hit the RKO and got the three-count to go on to face his former mentor:

For those that follow rumors and dirtsheets, this has been the plan for a bit now. However, SmackDown has done a fantastic job of making it compelling in biding their time to get to this point.

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Now we know the two main event title matches that’ll occupy the stage at WWE WrestleMania 33. Goldberg and Brock Lesnar will face off from RAW for the Universal Championship while it’ll now be Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton for the WWE World Championship from SmackDown. Though some people are going to complain (they always will), that’s a solid start to the card.