As seen in the closing segment of Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton refused to take his championship shot against WWE Champion Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 33 in Orlando FL. He pledged his allegiance to Wyatt. Orton stated that as long as Wyatt is the master and he is the servant that he refuses to face him at WrestleMania.
SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan announced on Talking Smack that a Battle Royal would take place on next week’s SmackDown Live in Ontario, California and the winner of that match will become the new #1 contender and challenge Wyatt for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Keep in mind that this is all part of the storyline and that the plan is still for Orton to challenge Wyatt for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.
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