Bray Wyatt should retain WWE Championship at WrestleMania 33

Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton is one of the featured championship matches at WrestleMania on Sunday, and the Eater of Worlds need to keep that gold around his waist

With chants of “You deserve it!” ringing throughout the audience, Bray Wyatt stood in the middle of the ring to open the Feb. 14 edition of WWE SmackDown Live to wow us all with what would be another one of his amazing talking sequences, better known in the professional wrestling world as promos. Only this time, Wyatt was sporting a new accessory in addition to his signature fedora and lantern. This time, Wyatt was wearing the most coveted prize in the industry around his waist, the WWE Championship, rightfully prompting the aforementioned chants from those in attendance inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Two nights prior, Wyatt outlasted five other men, including the likes of AJ Styles and the then-champion John Cena, inside the Elimination Chamber to become a world champion for the first time in his career.

Sunday night Wyatt will realize the dream of many pro wrestlers, as he will walk into Camping World Stadium in Orlando to defend his championship against his former Wyatt Family stablemate and multi-time world champion Randy Orton at WrestleMania. This match will (should) be the culmination of a rivalry on the grandest stage of ’em all that dates all the way back to the end of 2016, which is the way a WrestleMania match should be treated, in theory.

Orton being portrayed as the babyface in this feud and Wyatt the heel, traditional logic tells you the long-awaited reign of Wyatt as the top titleholder should be short-lived, with the Viper taking away his precious belt he earned at Elimination Chamber. Really, though, it should be the exact opposite when the final bell rings — presumably in the middle of the show, because no matter how much they call this the “main event,” we all know it’s not going on last.

The feud between these two has been fantastic overall, with a little bit of cheesiness thrown in at times as well as some downright crime. You know, like that time Randy decided to mess with Bray’s twisted mind by burning down what we assume is the man’s permanent residence with what we also assume was a corpse inside. Yeah, those were fun times!

Arson and Bray performing cult-like acts on Randy with a weird relic aside, it has been fantastic overall. It’s told a long story between two of the best in the company, with little layers added in here and there as the journey progressed, specifically the participation of Luke Harper. This ultimately ended in him distancing himself from the Wyatt Family for good — or so we hope.

In an era where WWE is well-known for some hot-shot booking, even with their biggest show of the year in WrestleMania, it’s been rather refreshing to watch a story play out over time slowly realizing that it will culminate at the Show of Shows. But the ending this time would be best-served to see the dastardly heel walk away with his title.

Wyatt needs the rub from Orton, which on the surface some may deem a little unreasonable. Arguments can be made that Bray is far from a rookie who needs that veteran assistance to get over, but in reality he is — he’s a rookie world champion. Not only that, but he’s a rookie world champion who has consistently been one of the best top-to-bottom performers in the company since he debuted — along with Harper and Erick Rowan — in July of 2013. Going back again to those “You deserve it!” chants, the main reason for those taking place on that night was because fans grew tiresome of seeing the uber-talented Wyatt constantly being knocked down a peg for seemingly no reason whatsoever. Stripping away the WWE Championship from him this early into his reign would just be another chapter in that unfortunate that has been written.

As for Orton … well, at this point, there’s no reason to slap another world title strap around his waist at this particular time — or over his shoulder, actually, because that’s how he carries his belts. Since the brand split last summer, SmackDown Live has been lauded by fans as being far and away the better product than the flagship RAW, and awarding another world championship to the veteran Orton would take away the general feeling of freshness the blue-brand has that gives it the edge in many’s eyes. Wyatt is a new world champion and SmackDown Live on Tuesday night is still a fairly new venture for WWE programming. It fits.

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Then there’s the underlying story that hasn’t been mentioned here — the fact that Wyatt has yet to win on the biggest stage the wrestling world has to offer. His debut at WrestleMania 30 he became another victim of John Cena, WrestleMania 31 saw him fail to hand The Undertaker his second ‘Mania loss in a row and WrestleMania 32 … well, he had just a segment with a flame-throwing Rock and a shockingly returning Cena. Not once has this glorious, bearded talent had the pleasure of having his hand raised in front of a WrestleMania stadium crowd. Giving him that moment against someone like Orton releases a world champion into the Tuesday night world with somewhat of a newfound confidence in himself knowing that not only can he get the job done at ‘Mania, but he can get it done in one of the highlight matches the card has to offer.

Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton has the potential to deliver on Sunday night when you mix together the talent both possess and the stage that has been bestowed upon them, bringing to an end a compelling story that both were able to tell. But when the proverbial smoke clears, that WWE Championship needs to be strapped around the waist of the Eater of Worlds so the champion can help continue to make SmackDown Live must-see television weekly as he accepts new competition.