5 Times when Champions in WWE wrestled non-title PPV matches

#1 Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt (WWE Payback 2017)

An ambitious effort.

This was the most notorious non-title pay-per-view match featuring a WWE Champion, with Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt putting an end to their, well, interesting feud.

While it started off pretty dull, Orton joining the Wyatt Family was a delightful swerve and gave the storyline life. He won the Royal Rumble, Wyatt won the WWE Championship and the two would be on a collision course at WrestleMania 33. Oh, and the Viper burned down the Wyatt Family compound.

Orton also took the WWE Title from Wyatt in a pretty mediocre 'Mania match, after which the 'Eater of Worlds' challenged his heated rival to a House of Horrors Match. And in an attempt to salvage any ounce of main event momentum Bray Wyatt may have had, the match became a non-title affair.

He was never going to win back the WWE Championship due to being shifted to RAW, but maybe he could gain some heat back with a victory over Randy Orton at Payback, in his "signature match" at the time.

It was a cinematic presentation, but not a very good one. There were various silly horror tropes involving creepy dolls and refrigerators, among other things. Orton and Wyatt ended the match in the ring, with the latter winning after interference from Jinder Mahal, the Viper's next challenger for the WWE Title.

While the House of Horrors concept seemed interesting and there was some effort put into it, the execution seemed lacking and the booking severely let it down. Bray Wyatt may have won the "match", but he lost much more throughout the feud. He did not recover until his radical change in character last year.

Three years on, Bray Wyatt will be a part of another non-title cinematic match against his World Champion foe. Hopefully, the Swamp Match against Braun Strowman turns out much better than the House of Horrors Match.