What’s the news?
It was made official on Smackdown! Live tonight that Randy Orton would face off against Luke Harper at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.
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Harper and Orton are former Smackdown! Live Tag Team Champions, but after losing the titles to American Alpha in a fatal four-way match, Harper and Orton started showing signs of even more tension between themselves.
Orton and Bray Wyatt would try to regain the championships the following week but were unsuccessful. Afterwards, Harper and Orton got into a shoving match, and Harper accidentally Superkicked Bray Wyatt.
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Harper and Orton continued having problems with one another, leading to a match between the two on the January 24th, 2017 episode of Smackdown! Live. Orton won the match after hitting the RKO, but after the match, Bray Wyatt inexplicably laid out Harper with the Sister Abigail.
During the 2017 Royal Rumble match, Harper entered as number 25, attacking both Wyatt and Orton and eliminating Apollo Crews, before being eliminated by Goldberg.
On the January 31st episode of Smackdown! Live, Harper cemented his face turn when he came to WWE Champion John Cena's aid as he was being confronted by Wyatt and Orton, which led to an impromptu tag team match between the four, where Wyatt and Orton were victorious.
The heart of the matter
On tonight’s episode of Smackdown! Live, Luke Harper cut a promo from the mysterious smoky room where the Wyatt Family usually cut promos from. He spoke about how a man is at his most dangerous when he had nothing to lose. Then again, he said, he had nothing, to begin with.
Harper went on to accuse Randy Orton of being a liar and for stealing his family. Harper called Orton a snake in the grass and stated that he knew how to deal with him. Harper then said that he would inflict pain on Orton and promised that Randy Orton would be “eliminated” at the Elimination Chamber.
What’s next?
The Elimination Chamber takes place on Sunday, February 12th, 2017 from Phoenix, Arizona. Bray Wyatt will be involved in the actual Elimination Chamber match whereas Orton and Harper would be taking on each other in a singles match.
Sportskeeda’s Take
This match between Luke Harper and Randy Orton was inevitable and if their previous match on the episode of Smackdown! Live before the Royal Rumble was any indication, Wrestling fans could be in for a treat, come Elimination Chamber.
We love that Harper is being presented as the face here, and it will mean even more when Randy Orton eventually turns on Bray Wyatt because then Harper can say “I told you so.”
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