At the Royal Rumble , Randy Orton entered the 30-superstar over-the-top-rope match and was the final man standing. He won the right to head to WrestleMania 33 and be in the main event against the WWE Champion who was John Cena at the time. At the Elimination Chamber , Bray Wyatt won the title, and that has led to Orton taking himself out of the match, but how will a new number one contender be determined?
Well, with a huge battle royal on next week’s SmackDown Live , of course.
Last night on SmackDown Live , Bray Wyatt defeated John Cena and AJ Styles to retain his WWE Championship in his first defense. As the match ended, Randy Orton came out as recapped by WWE and announced his loyalty to his “master,” and said he would not face off against him at WrestleMania 33 .
While that made Wyatt quite happy, it presented a pretty big dilemma to WWE, and it needed to be taken care of in a hurry. So, Daniel Bryan stepped in on “Talking Smack” and let the world know what they were planning on doing.
BREAKING: @WWEDanielBryan announces a #1Contender #BattleRoyal NEXT WEEK on #SDLive to replace @RandyOrton , who refuses to face Bray Wyatt! pic.twitter.com/f9WCD4D6Tz
— WWE (@WWE) February 15, 2017
As of now, there is not much known about this battle royal to determine a new number one contender. No names have been mentioned. An exact number of superstars participating in it has not been announced. All that is known that the winner will get the title shot, and it has led to a lot of rumors.
Fansided believes that there are a couple of possibilities who jump right out as potential winners the battle royal with John Cena and AJ Styles leading the way. Both superstars have held the title within the last 30 days and have waged war with Wyatt, but fallen short.
The other possibility they list is Luke Harper who has really come a long way in the last couple of months. He is getting a great reaction from the fans since breaking free of The Wyatt Family, and he has had a couple of great matches with Orton in the last few weeks.
This one would make a lot of sense as Harper is a very talented superstar, but some may not think he is meant to be in the main event of WrestleMania . He does keep attacking Bray Wyatt, though, and that makes one think that WWE will go with that feud somewhere down the line.
On the other hand, Cageside Seats is stating that the plan is still in place for Randy Orton to face Wyatt in the main event at WrestleMania 33 for the WWE Title. While that could happen, it would be just odd if it did.
Orton already won his main event spot, and Wyatt has the title, so, all WWE had to do was let nature take its course. Still, they likely want Orton to make a full-on babyface switch and turn on Wyatt to get the fans back on his side.
Should that be the case, look for Orton to enter himself into the battle royal and look to win it all over again. There could also be the chance that one superstar wins the battle royal, Orton turns on Wyatt to take his spot, and that gives everyone a Three-Way Dance for the WWE Title.
At the end of SmackDown Live , Randy Orton told Bray Wyatt that “as long as you are the master and I am the servant, I refuse to face you at WrestleMania .” There is a bit of a hint in that line, and it could lead to Orton turning on his “master” and taking the match anyway.
With no more pay-per-view events in line for SmackDown Live until WrestleMania 33 , they have no choice but to have such a huge match except on free TV. The battle royal to determine the new number one contender for Bray Wyatt and the WWE Championship doesn’t have any entrants as of yet, but don’t look past there being some surprises. Also, don’t look past Randy Orton still somehow ending up back in the match.
[Featured Image by WWE]