New WWE Champion

[Xemmy]

Ladies and Gentleman, Bray Wyatt has finally climbed the top of the mountain, beating The Miz, Dean Ambrose, Baron Corbin, AJ Styles, and John Cena to win his first world title.

Not only did Bray win, but he won clean, pinning both John Cena and AJ Styles. I know there are a lot of people that didn't want this. And they've taken so long to pull the trigger on Bray, I didn't think it would happen. Is anyone pumped for Orton vs Wyatt? Do you think it's actually going to happen? What do you think of Bray as WWE Champion and the future of his reign?

Personally, I marked out. I haven't gotten this excited since AJ debuted at the Rumble the year before. I don't know how they're going to book him. But I desperately don't want him to be a transitional champion.

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

The rumour of the whole story with Orton was that Orton would turn on him. Which then only really makes sense if he wins, what would be the point in him joining Wyatt only to lose to him down the road?

Unless they somehow come up with a story about Wyatt convincing Orton to do something else, I see Orton beating him at Mania.

Potentially Harper causes the upset and Wyatt retains, but I don't think that would do any favours for Wyatt.

 

[Xemmy]

The rumour of the whole story with Orton was that Orton would turn on him. Which then only really makes sense if he wins, what would be the point in him joining Wyatt only to lose to him down the road?

Unless they somehow come up with a story about Wyatt convincing Orton to do something else, I see Orton beating him at Mania.

Potentially Harper causes the upset and Wyatt retains, but I don't think that would do any favours for Wyatt.

Orton's a 12 time champion. Bray winning the belt for a month just to pass of it off to Orton doesn't make the most sense in the world to me. But that would be WWE wouldn't it?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'm glad to see that Bray Wyatt won the title and that he looked strong doing it. I wasn't entirely sure what I was expecting here in terms of how they'd ultimately portray each of the wrestlers and I was glad that Wyatt won so decisively. Wyatt was reported to be the heavy favorite in the match and if they weren't gonna put the title back on Styles, then going with Wyatt was the right choice as Cena vs. Orton for WrestleMania just doesn't have the juice. There's a good amount of TV time for SmackDown Live between now and WrestleMania so it should be interesting to see how the title picture plays out with Wyatt vs. Orton waiting to be built, Cena getting his rematch and Styles still being in the mix.

Personally, I hope Bray retains as I'm just not at all interested in Randy Orton as WWE Champion again. As with Cena, Orton is someone who doesn't really need the title and I don't believe that there's really a whole lot of enthusiasm about seeing Orton as champ again. I'm not trying to say that Orton still doesn't have it or anything like that, it's simply that his last few title runs have been met with lukewarm receptions and I don't see that improving, especially if it means ending Bray Wyatt's title run 6.5 weeks after it began.

 

[Wald]

I've been a fan of Bray for years but I really don't know if this was the best way to give him the belt. I know he looked decisive in beating both Cena and Styles clean but first time champions winning in multi-man matches always leaves me a little bit flat. Added to this is the assumption that Orton will be taking the title at Wrestlemania, because that storyline makes no sense if Orton doesn't go over.

We'll see what they come up with but for now I'd have preferred if Wyatt had won the Rumble and Orton the title, or if they went with Styles v Orton instead.

 

[Барбоса]

While I am happy enough to see Bray Wyatt win the title, I have very little interest in the Orton/Bray match up. We have seen it before at the beginning of this storyline.And it most certainly did not need the WWE title thrown into it.

Bray looking strong while winning actually does nothing for a variety of stories.

Surely Orton should have helped Bray win the title, providing us with the intrigue of did Randy help Bray win because he is part of the Wyatts or because he wants his final revenge by taking the title from Bray at Wrestlemania?

If Miz is going to have something to do with either Cena or Bryan at Wrestlemania, why was he not involved in getting Cena eliminated?

What was the point of AJ losing the title to Cena? If the idea is for AJ to be mad at Shane/Bryan, why not have him retain against Cena, perhaps through cheating and then be forced to defend in the Chamber? That would give him something to complain about other than "I do not have a match for Wrestlemania."

Of course, I didn't need all of these to happen in the same match, but something other than a blatantly obvious, on-going feud/match we have seen before should have been set up.

 

[Spencesc11]

Yes Rumble to Chamber Title scene was done very poorly....

Cena wins at Rumble and drops it 2 weeks later??? Made no sense.....

and if your setting up feuds for Mania why not do this.....

1) Corbin pins Ambrose (I-C Title Feud Ready to go)
2) Cena defeats Corbin and Miz comes up from behind and takes out Cena. (Mixed tag feud ready to go). Miz brags for weeks about pinning Cena!!!
3) Same finish with Wyatt pinning Styles but afterwards you have Shane come out and congratulate Wyatt and grab the mic and say to a fallen Styles, "By the way, I'm the face that runs the place"

Then you have your 4 main Smackdown matches all set....
Wyatt vs. Orton, Cena/Bella vs. Miz/Maryse, Styles vs. Shane, and Corbin vs. Ambrose
Would've that been so hard???

 

[Spencesc11]

Now this is how I would've booked it to begin with....

Wyatt wins the Rumble (Orton in the title match wasn't necessary).

Chamber
Styles regains Title as it gets down to him and Cena and out comes Samoa Joe. Joe destroys Cena setting up their match.

Mania Matches
Styles vs. B. Wyatt
* Wyatt wins gold after interference from the Family. This prompts Shane to deal Ambrose & the Uso's for Balor & The Club to even the odds post Mania.

Cena vs. Samoa Joe
* Cross promotion match. Joe says he was always better than Cena and wants to prove it. Joe should go over here to help his build up....

Ambrose vs. Orton vs. Corbin vs. Harper (I-C Title Fatal 4way), Corbin wins I-C Gold but joins the Wyatt Family after Mania.

I wouldn't split Wyatt & Orton anytime soon and post Mania I would have Balor,Anderson, and Gallows move to Smackdown and start a Bullet Club vs. Wyatt Family feud. Even have Baron Corbin join the Wyatt Family so you would have Styles, Balor, Anderson, & Gallows vs. Wyatt, Orton, Corbin, & Harper. This could really be solid for Smackdown.
Plus you still have a solid Women's & Tag division. Other top stars outside of the feud (Miz, Ziggler, etc...)
And to offset the losses of Balor & the Club send Ambrose & The Uso's back to Raw.

 

[The Life Of Pablo Ren]

Yes Rumble to Chamber Title scene was done very poorly....

Cena wins at Rumble and drops it 2 weeks later??? Made no sense.....

and if your setting up feuds for Mania why not do this.....

1) Corbin pins Ambrose (I-C Title Feud Ready to go)
2) Cena defeats Corbin and Miz comes up from behind and takes out Cena. (Mixed tag feud ready to go). Miz brags for weeks about pinning Cena!!!
3) Same finish with Wyatt pinning Styles but afterwards you have Shane come out and congratulate Wyatt and grab the mic and say to a fallen Styles, "By the way, I'm the face that runs the place"

Then you have your 4 main Smackdown matches all set....
Wyatt vs. Orton, Cena/Bella vs. Miz/Maryse, Styles vs. Shane, and Corbin vs. Ambrose
Would've that been so hard???

How would Corbin eliminating Ambrose set up their IC title feud for Mania? The way they did it was great. The face gets the rollup on the monster heel and then the monster heel attacks the face afterwards setting up his elimination. That was literally the best executed thing all night. If Corbin just eliminated Ambrose clean then there's no reason for a feud, and if he resorted to rolling up Ambrose you're completely ruining Corbin's character. Corbin, although not to the same extent is Smackdown's version of Braun Strowman, he's their monster heel. He should never EVER use a cheap tactic to win.

You complained about Cena losing his title in only two weeks but you really think a weak attack/rollup from Miz is a better way to lose it than a convincing pinfall from the eventual winner of the match? It's not like they did nothing to set up the mixed tag, the seeds were planted during the backstage Nikki/Nattie segment.

And the thing with AJ/Shane makes Shane look like a heel. (That's not to say that the way they've been actually setting things up makes it look any different, but it's still not something that they want).

I don't mean it to sound like I'm shitting all over your ideas but you're acting like they did nothing to set up their side of the card when I think it's pretty clear that they did and that they did it well.

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

If Miz is going to have something to do with either Cena or Bryan at Wrestlemania, why was he not involved in getting Cena eliminated?

What was the point of AJ losing the title to Cena? If the idea is for AJ to be mad at Shane/Bryan, why not have him retain against Cena, perhaps through cheating and then be forced to defend in the Chamber? That would give him something to complain about other than "I do not have a match for Wrestlemania."

- To your point about the Miz, they actually teased the rumored Miz/Maryse vs Cena/Nikki earlier in the night when while brawling with Natayla, Nikki feel onto Maryse.
More than Likely it will be all about Maryse (w/Miz) vs Nikki, with Cena eventually coming to the rescue.
- Cena won the world title and being the one to lose it to Bray was the right decision. Had AJ been the one to lose the title to Bray, wwe would have been forced to book the obligatory contract rematch, with it being heel vs heel. AJ heel, Bray is heel, and Orton is technically still heel, that would've been too complicated, when they could make Cena a transitional champion, while also getting that 16th title reign out the way.

As for as Wyatt's title win, I am excited to see what he does as champion. I was hoping to see Harper defeat Orton and get inserted into the match at Wm, but I am fine with it being just Orton vs Bray. The Wyatt/Orton/Harper has been my favorite feud going, and creatives should really start to give them an even greater depth of storytelling in the near future. Do some videos of all three at the Wyatt compound, or Wyatt talking to Orton's wife. Nothing stalker-ish, but as if the wife has known of Orton's recent involvement with the Wyatt family. Things like that should be done to get the fans interested in the build towards Wrestlemania. As others have mentioned, Orton vs Bray is a match we've seen before, so they really need to focus on the storyline build around it. This could be your average championship feud or they can really go all out with Orton's and Wyatt's characters.
With Bray being world champion now, I really hope that they become more creative with his charcter and start to do more with it.

 

[LoveReignsO'erMe]

I think Orton going over Bray works for Bray only if Harper interferes. I would be interested in a storyline where it seems that Harper is trying to get back in Bray's good graces and prove himself again, but we see a swerve at WM and it turns out Harper has chosen Orton as his leader.

Bray can turn face, which I think WWE has been tempted to do for a while, and you can let Orton lead a heel stable that feuds with Bray through the rest of 2017.

It's the only situation (in my mind) where giving Bray the title for only a month and then having him drop it makes sense. But maybe I'm not thinking creatively enough to see another possibility that wouldn't substantially harm Bray.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

The only reason that wyatt as the title right now is because the writers didn't know how to advance the feud between orton and wyatt or even how to split them up so they thought that giving the title to wyatt and the rumble to orton was the way to go.

I really think that wyatt is only a transitional champion and that orton will beat him at mania which will either end the feud or advance the feud to another place.

 

[GOOZEKING]

The good and bad news for Wyatt is that the match isn't Main eventing. Goldberg vs lesnar is so that means his chances of retaining the belt are a little higher cause It isn't closing the show and Vince won't have to have he babyface win

 

[Aeon Mathix]

I could go for a fatal fourway at WrestleMania with Orton vs Wyatt vs Cena vs Styles. Cena and Styles argue their one on one rematch clause, Bryan makes it Cena vs Styles on smackdown where they have a screwy finish or double countout or something. All hell breaks lose and Shane makes the match for Mania. It gives Cena and AJ something big to do and furthers the "family" concept of Wyatt and Orton in that they are both in the same match helping each other keep the title in the Wyatt family.

Orton vs Wyatt simply isn't strong enough of a World Championship match at WrestleMania. It would be a snoozefest. Adding Cena and AJ to the mix would make it much more interesting. I would honestly be very surprised if they just have Orton vs Wyatt at this point with how much teasing WWE has done with the anything can happen in 7 weeks stuff.

I don't believe the Nikki/Cena vs Maryse/Miz thing. If anything it should be Bryan/Nikki vs Maryse/Miz. Bryan can come out of retirement for a 5 minute or so match with Nikki and Maryse doing most of the work, Bryan getting the hot tag, doing his signature stuff like YES kicks or making Miz tap for the win. Cena comes out after and proposes to Nikki before his match later on. That would be a much better way to go in my view.

 

[TDFG]

Orton's a 12 time champion. Bray winning the belt for a month just to pass of it off to Orton doesn't make the most sense in the world to me. But that would be WWE wouldn't it?

Considering Roman Reigns held the title for 5 minutes during his first reign as champion then no it wouldn't surprise me if Bray Wyatt was to drop the belt to Orton.

This is all a mess, why couldn't they go with a controversial finish to the match between Cena & Styles at the Rumble, with Bray winning at Elimination Chamber setting up a Triple Threat at WrestleMania with Bray Wyatt v Randy Orton v AJ Styles.

Heading into the Royal Rumble as Champion AJ Styles now currently has no match at WrestleMania.

John Cena held the title for two weeks and it's likely he will be involved in a mixed-tag match at WrestleMania.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Considering Roman Reigns held the title for 5 minutes during his first reign as champion then no it wouldn't surprise me if Bray Wyatt was to drop the belt to Orton.

This is all a mess, why couldn't they go with a controversial finish to the match between Cena & Styles at the Rumble, with Bray winning at Elimination Chamber setting up a Triple Threat at WrestleMania with Bray Wyatt v Randy Orton v AJ Styles.

Heading into the Royal Rumble as Champion AJ Styles now currently has no match at WrestleMania.

John Cena held the title for two weeks and it's likely he will be involved in a mixed-tag match at WrestleMania.

You have to look at the bigger picture right now to make sense of all of this

Cena winning the titles from styles makes sense because he tied the record and now, they can make a big deal about it when he wins his 17th world title at some point.

Wyatt winning the title last night also make sense because the story is between orton and wyatt at this point. They've been building this story since september and you need to find a way for orton to turn on bray and show that his plan was to infiltrate the wyatt and destroy them from within, Wyatt winning the title which will set up the orton vs wyatt match at mania makes senses also and if they do it right, you got to have orton finally get his revenge on wyatt at mania.

The fact of the matter is that what they did with wyatt and orton is what you called old school, long term booking. Everything makes senses and you get your big payoff at the biggest show of the year. But this type of booking is kinda lost on those that didn't follow wrestling before the monday night wars.

Would i have love to see a three way with wyatt, orton and aj styles at mania? Yes i would, but it really doesn't make sense at all with the current story they are telling with orton and Wyatt and adding AJ Styles into the mix is just a waste of AJ Styles at mania because he won't be the focus of the match. I rather have him involve in his own program even if it's the rumor program between him and shane, then having him be just another body in a match that truthfully doesn'T need it.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

I take everything I read on dirt sheets with a fairly healthy grain of rock salt. I was still surprised when Bray won the title tonight. There still exists a chance that a third man is added to this match, but for now it appears Bray vs Randy is happening for the title.

First of all, the title being a part of this does add something to this match that it was lacking. We've seen Orton vs Wyatt all last summer. The title does add some tension as well as gives the match a need to occur that was missing.

Without the title, this would just be another undercard match that lacked something. With the title, it's a main event.

The booking tells us a few things. Randy couldn't defeat Bray before, but that was because of Wyatt family interference (Rowan is injured and Harper appears to be their enemy now). So it would seem Randy has the biggest thing to prove here.

The other hand is Bray Wyatt is very much the underdog. He's just won his first title and he does not have a conventional body type. If they decide Bray is the heel in this, they're going to have a tough time keeping it that way. Randy is a 12 time champion with a traditional body type. He's the kind of thing the crowd has trouble getting behind.

We'll see how it goes down. The better story here would be the former Wyatt family members conspiring against Bray while Randy plays the full heel and Bray Wyatt overcomes the odds.

This is one of the first times we've had an up and comer win their first WWE title on the road to WrestleMania. The only other first time champions who won their first WWE titles on the way to Mania were Ric Flair and Sgt. Slaughter. They were already Ric Flair and Sgt. Slaughter though.

It would be a crime for a young guy like Wyatt, who has overcome a lot of small injuries and some big time criticism to lose another WrestleMania match when he just pinned John Cena and AJ Styles clean (as clean as you can get in a multi-man cage match with different start times).

Bray Wyatt is 0-2 at WrestleMania. 0-3 if you count Rowan's match with The Rock, and Bray's subsequent embarrassment by The Great Occasional Appearance One.

The best story here is clearly Bray Wyatt defeating Randy Orton, possibly even with Harper and Rowan interfering of Randy's behalf. Let Orton be the heel. Let Wyatt be a tweener that leans towards face.

Wyatt finally wins at WrestleMania and Randy Orton can begin a clear cut heel run. Truthfully though, we're more likely to see Wyatt play the heel, possibly bring his family back to the fold, and Orton finally gets his win over Wyatt.

 

[Kizzani]

Personally, I marked out. I haven't gotten this excited since AJ debuted at the Rumble the year before. I don't know how they're going to book him. But I desperately don't want him to be a transitional champion.

I am in the same boat, I expected Cena or Styles to win from the onset, I believed Cena when he said no one else was on thier level. Corbin showed so flash but lost in a rookie move way, but went out like a vet.

Watching the Miz be the healthiest, take 1 aa and be down, proved they really don't care how great he made the WWE IC title, the same one that dean is driving into the ground.

But seeing Bray as the final three, I actually sat up, I began to give a damn. Orton v Harper would have been the top storyline ( if Bray didn't win) they put on an amazing match, I don't see how they don't re-unite the Wyatts.

But huge props to WWE and Bray Wyatt for getting a good change of pace, also perfect for Cena to trump Flairs legacy in the wrestling Business. 17 time champ.

 

[SSJPhenom]

I'm glad that Wyatt has finally won the title. It's been a long time coming and it is something that probably should've happened a long time ago. Having said that, though, I don't like how this was done.

Why have Cena win the title at all at the Rumble? Styles should've retained and then lost to Wyatt inside the Chamber. I don't like when they hot potato the championship. It takes away from what are supposed to be big moments for performers and makes the fans not care as much. I was about 90% sure that Wyatt was gonna win the championship at the Elimination Chamber ever since Orton won the Royal Rumble. It was the only thing that made any sense. I just wished that Cena's reign hadn't of been 2 weeks.

Anyways, I'm happy that Wyatt is the champ and I'm actually looking forward to seeing his and Orton's storyline heading into WrestleMania.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I think Orton going over Bray works for Bray only if Harper interferes. I would be interested in a storyline where it seems that Harper is trying to get back in Bray's good graces and prove himself again, but we see a swerve at WM and it turns out Harper has chosen Orton as his leader.

Bray can turn face, which I think WWE has been tempted to do for a while, and you can let Orton lead a heel stable that feuds with Bray through the rest of 2017.

It's the only situation (in my mind) where giving Bray the title for only a month and then having him drop it makes sense. But maybe I'm not thinking creatively enough to see another possibility that wouldn't substantially harm Bray.

The way round this is simple... do the double turn ala Bret and Stone Cold... It's not been done in a while, not properly.

Have it set up that Bray is the heel all the way to Mania, with Harper being special guest referee...

During the Mania match, it becomes clear that Harper is working with Orton but and he gets the "screwjob pinfall"

They can't use the Sharpshooter/Blood image... but they can use the punt kick that took Husky off TV initially.. if Orton punt kicked Bray into next week, face bloodied...and Harper defends him (maybe even reverses the decision) then you have your double turn for both guys and a way for Bray to adjust his character/escape with the title or for Orton to take it and make Bray top face chasing. You could even bring D.Bry into the mix at the end... he technically is still a Wyatt, he could reverse the decision on Orton after a brutal Punt Kick to Bray... making the new story about how Orton is stalking Bryan to finally kill him off (with his concussion history) as GM.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Good, now send Orton to Fast lane to RKO the winner of Goldberg and Owens. If it is Goldberg then all the better as someone needs to be added to Lesnar/Goldberg to carry that match for what should be an exhausted audience who are itching to turn on two parttimers (especially a 50 year old that may make an Indy darling like Owens looks like a chump). Orton is as good of a candidate as anyone. If it is Owens that's fine too. There is no reason Jericho and Owens needs to happen. Orton and Owens would mean more even without the year of best friends.

My point is that as much as we are used to teams splitting up, Orton and Wyatt don't have to split up. At least not in the traditional way. Bray can send Randy to Raw to "spread the Wyatt Family dominance". When Randy is done with Raw you can have your break up and feud as Randy discovers that Bray was just afraid of him.

Or something like that. In the meantime give the title shot on Bray to Cena or Wyatt or Cena and Wyatt.

 

[OYDK]

Hey look, people complaining about something they've presumably wanted for years. Who'da thunk it?

Bray Wyatt deserves to be champion and he deserves to carry the championship into Wrestlemania and retain the championship at Wrestlemania. I've heard people say that Wyatt/Orton isn't big enough for Mania, but those same people likely complained when it was Cena/Orton. Things can change, but I wouldn't complain in the slightest if it ends up being Bray/Orton for the title. I'd much prefer that over a Fatal 4 Way...those matches are crazy lame 90% of the time. The Orton/Wyatt story was one of the best of the year and if the payoff for that comes at Wrestlemania so be it.

 

[Aeon Mathix]

The Orton/Wyatt story was one of the best of the year and if the payoff for that comes at Wrestlemania so be it.

I don't really understand the appeal of this feud. It all stems from "if you can't beat them, join them". There hasn't really been anything built from it or any more reason for me to care about why Orton is why Bray now or how they formed this brotherly bond and became so trusting of each other. One week Orton just started teaming with them and they all acted like they had been teaming for years at that point.

It's like the majority of Bray's feuds though. We are never really given a reason as to why he does the things he does or what his real intentions are. He just targets random people and rambles about things and the face usually ends up beating him decisively and there is no mention of it ever again. Comes off like Bray going "well that didn't work, time to try and face someone else".

 

[OYDK]

I don't really understand the appeal of this feud. It all stems from "if you can't beat them, join them". There hasn't really been anything built from it or any more reason for me to care about why Orton is why Bray now or how they formed this brotherly bond and became so trusting of each other. One week Orton just started teaming with them and they all acted like they had been teaming for years at that point.

Very true, I actually missed the episode where Orton joined and didn't realize why the hell they were teaming up for like, two months before somebody mentioned it on an LD. Still, from the start it has been one of the more intriguing stories WWE has had, at least in my opinion, and the chemistry between Wyatt/Orton/Harper has been off the charts. So many layers have been added into it to always keep people guessing and Wyatt winning the title to set up a match with Orton seems to be the icing on the cake. I completely disagree with the fact that there hasn't been anything built from it though. Harper is on his own and really gaining momentum, Orton is the Rumble winner and Wyatt's the champion, no?

If they had built up Orton joining over maybe a month, I would have called this one of the better storylines in recent memory, but I honestly don't think they were planning on drawing it out this long when it first started. You can fault WWE for half-assing the beginning of this feud (if we can even call it that), but I think you have to give some credit to both guys (actually three including Harper) for how well they've pulled this thing off.

I'm a sucker for really good stories culminating at Wrestlemania; to me how "big" a match is supposed to be or whatever rarely matters if the story is there. That's personally why I'd love to see Owens/Jericho for the Universal title and Wyatt/Orton for the WWE title.

 

[TDFG]

Why have Cena win the title at all at the Rumble? Styles should've retained and then lost to Wyatt inside the Chamber. I don't like when they hot potato the championship. It takes away from what are supposed to be big moments for performers and makes the fans not care as much.

Exactly my point. They have made Cena's latest reign look like a token gesture, 'let's get him to 16 quickly before he goes on another hiatus and then we can start building for the 17th'.

Cena isn't going to continue a feud for the title anytime soon, Wyatt could still have pinned both Cena (the challenger) and Styles (the champ) in the Chamber.