Worst in the World: Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33

Well, if I'm going to jump back into this blog, it's only fitting that my first post takes a look at arguably the saddest WWE Championship reign of all time. When Bray Wyatt debuted on the main roster back in 2013, he seemed like a breath of fresh air. A talented worker with some great skills on the microphone and an interesting & alluring character and gimmick, Wyatt seemed destined for big things in WWE. And then...John Cena happened.

Following Wyatt's feud with Cena, which included two clean losses and a cheap win via demon child distraction, he began one of the most brutal downward spirals in recent memories. From lackluster feuds to terrible booking decisions, Wyatt became almost a parody of himself, cutting seemingly pointless promos before staring up at the lights whenever he faced a serious opponent. Essentially, he was Enzo Amore going through his edgy goth phase. However, things looked up for Wyatt at the tail end of 2016. Him & rival turned new Wyatt Family member Randy Orton were the sole survivors for Team SmackDown at Survivor Series and won the SmackDown Tag Team Championships at TLC. To top it off, Wyatt would capture the WWE Championship in 2017 at Elimination Chamber. It seemed like Wyatt was finally going to be taken seriously and used correctly by the creative team. His first title defense on pay-per-view would come against Orton, who won the 2017 Royal Rumble and turned on Wyatt by burning down the Wyatt Family compound. A hot feud featuring two talented wrestlers, what could go wrong?

Yeah...

So, I'm just going to be completely honest with you...this was not the worst match of 2017. There are probably way worse ones, but the one that comes to mind as being worse than Wyatt vs Orton was Alexa Bliss and Bayley's Kendo Stick on a Pole match, even without the stink of the "This is Your Life" segment that preceded it.  Also, this was not even the worst match on the WrestleMania 33 card. I might sound like a typical "anti-Roman" guy when I say this, but I thought Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker was worse than this. Hell, this isn't even the worst match Randy Orton had in 2017. That would easily be the Punjabi Prison match Orton had with Jinder Mahal at Battleground later this year. And you know what...this isn't even the worst match of this feud. Orton & Wyatt had a much worse match in 2017. And I think you know exactly which one that was.

Basically what I'm saying is that whoever votes on the Wrestling Observer Awards were way off on this one. This match is bad, but it definitely wasn't the Worst Match of the Year in my opinion. So now, let's get into this.

Before the match even starts we get a great little moment that totally misses the mark. Randy Orton makes his way down the ramp, followed by a CGI viper on the screen below him. The only problem is that viper is, as many people have pointed out, very sperm-like.

And yes, that ramp is absurdly long. It's so long that Orton's theme literally cycles back to the beginning by the time he does his pose on the second rope. The match kicks off with an instant Thesz Press by Orton on a charging Wyatt. Wyatt goes for a running body block right after, only for Orton to dodge it and hit a scoop slam. Orton goes for the RKO early, but Wyatt blocks and rolls out of the ring. Orton quickly follows Wyatt out and beats him down at ringside. Orton throws Wyatt back in the ring, only for Wyatt to catch him huge right hand followed by a running headbutt. Wyatt goes to the corner and bends backward before...it happens.

Yes, for reasons that aren't even remotely clear, maggots project onto the mat. No, Bray Wyatt has never done this before, and like I said, I have no idea why he would do it. I could sort of understand if it was to distract Orton or something like that, but Orton's laid out, so really, it's just kind of pointless. The crowd does actually react with shock when it happens and cheer when Wyatt poses in the ring after Orton rolls out, but that enthusiasm for spooky projections wouldn't last by the end of this match.

Orton gets back in the ring and Wyatt almost connects with a Sister Abigail, but Orton avoids it and goes for another RKO. Wyatt blocks it before connecting with a huge crossbody block. Wyatt throws Orton onto the ring apron before slamming him down and rolling him back in the ring. Wyatt splashes Orton in the corner and bends backward again. Spooky projection #2 enters the fray, this time we get worms.

This time the crowd cheers, but it seems like it's more for the absurdity of it rather than it actually being effective or cool. And besides, when it comes to gross bugs, going from maggots to worms is a huge step-down.

Wyatt pounces on Orton and beats him down before yelling "I AM A GOD!" He gets one single pity clap from someone in the crowd. Orton gets to his feet and goes for yet another RKO, but Wyatt blocks again and hits a Uranage followed by a senton for a near fall. Wyatt goes Sister Abigail, but Orton counters with a roll up. Wyatt kicks out at two and clotheslines Orton, who rolls out of the ring. Wyatt goes for a flying nothing off the ring apron, but Orton catches him with a dropkick. Orton picks up Wyatt to get him back in the ring, but Wyatt rams him into the LED board on the ring and hits Sister Abigail into the barricade. Wyatt rolls Orton back into the ring, only for Orton pretty much no sell and roll right out the other side. Wyatt goes for a clothesline at ringside, but Orton dodges it and finally hits the RKO. Orton rolls Wyatt back into the ring and makes the cover, but Wyatt kicks out at two.

Orton sets up in the corner for the punt kick, but he forgets that it's not 2011 anymore, so that kick is definitely not connecting. Wyatt dodges the punt (as he's clearly learned from experience how to avoid it) and goes for Sister Abigail. Orton is able to reverse it again and hits the backbreaker followed by the draping DDT. Orton calls for the RKO, but Wyatt catches him with Sister Abigail, only for Orton to kick out at two. Wyatt does his spider walk, which prompts Spooky Projection #3; cockroaches.

This one elicits actually laughter from the crowd. It's just so dumb, how could you not laugh at it. Wyatt smacks Orton around, only for Orton to pop up and hit the RKO for the win. Less than 10 minutes for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Like I said, the saddest WWE championship reign of all time. Even Jinder Mahal got treated better as champion.

The Verdict

From an in-ring standpoint, there really isn't anything wrong with the match. Like I said, to say this match was the absolute worst of 2017 is just flat out wrong. Orton and Wyatt wrestled a safe, simple match and while that's obviously not very exciting (or the kind of match you'd want for the WWE Championship), it could've been a lot worse. The bug projections are some of the dumber things you'll see throughout the history of WrestleMania, but I wouldn't say they're bad enough to say it's the worst match of the year. When you look at it against the other matches happening at the time, I can see why people would call this worst. However, when you compare it to some of the absolute sh*t shows I watched back when I did this series regularly, it's about as far from the bottom as you can get.

Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
2. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
3. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
4. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
5. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
6. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
7. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
8. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
9. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
10. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
11. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
12. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
13. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
14. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
15. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
16. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
17. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
18. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
19. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
20. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
21. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
22. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
23. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
24. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
25. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
26. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
27. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
28. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
29. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
30. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
31. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
32. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
33. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
34. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
35. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
36. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
37. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
38. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
39. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
40. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
41. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
42. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
43. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
44. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
45. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
46. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
47. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
48. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
49. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
50. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
51. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
52. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
53. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
54. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
55. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
56. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
57. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
58. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
59. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
60.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
61. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
62. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
63. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
64. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
65. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
66. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
67. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
68. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
69. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
70. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
71. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
72. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
73. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
74. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
75. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
76. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
77. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
78. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
79. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
80. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-RAW (7/8/2002)
81. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
82. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
83. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
84. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
85. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
86. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
87. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
88. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
89. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
90. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
91. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
92. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
93. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
94. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/10)
95. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
96. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
97. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
98. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
99. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
100. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
101. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009

So, if you've been paying attention to the Wrestling Observer Awards, you know exactly which match is next. Until then, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed.