WWE: Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles on Smackdown Live to Determine #1 Contender to WWE Title

It was announced on WWE.com on Friday morning that Randy Orton will face AJ Styles in the main event of Smackdown Live next Tuesday March 7 to determine who will face Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 33 on April 2.

Here’s how it was explained on WWE.com covering this huge story.

The whirlwind struggle to determine WWE Champion Bray Wyatt’s No. 1 contender at WrestleMania will reach new heights this Tuesday on SmackDown LIVE when Randy Orton battles AJ Styles one-on-one.

For a brief moment last Tuesday, it seemed as if the ongoing controversy surrounding the WWE Title had finally been settled. Styles overcame Luke Harper in an extremely hard-fought match and seemingly established himself as The New Face of Fear’s Show of Shows’ challenger. But that assumption literally went up in smoke when 2017 Royal Rumble Match winner Randy Orton —who had previously stated that he would not challenge Wyatt as long as he was the master and Orton the servant — suddenly declared that he was coming for the WWE Title at The Showcase of The Immortals before burning The Wyatt Family Compound to the ground!

But who ultimately has the right to challenge Bray Wyatt: the Superstar who won the Royal Rumble Match or the Superstar who won the honor after Orton refused it?

To answer that question, Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Daniel Bryan reviewed all that happened this past week and have determined that The Viper and “The Face that Runs the Place” must go head-to-head this Tuesday at 8/7 C on USA Network to finally establish who will take on The New Face of Fear on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

TJR Thoughts: I think it’s the right move. It should be an awesome match and I believe it’s their first televised singles match. I would be shocked if Orton didn’t win it. I’m just glad they are doing it because it’s the right way to settle the controversy.