The history between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt has seen them working as both tag partners and opponents. Both wrestlers enjoyed getting to experiment with new depths of their characters when placed in an angle together. The tag run came in 2016 with Orton becoming a shocking member of the Wyatt Family.

RELATED: 10 Randy Orton WrestleMania Matches (And Who He Should Have Faced Instead)

However, that just set up a feud between the two that grew more intense. Orton and Wyatt had two noteworthy feuds at different points with polarizing receptions. WWE trusted them to have a unique presentation compared to every other pairing on the roster. Each of the following tidbits will shine a deeper light on the Wyatt and Orton history.

10 Main Evented PPV Over WWE Championship Due To Presidential Debate

Bray Wyatt v Randy Orton No Mercy 2016

The first storyline between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton started without any title or huge stakes involved. WWE surprised everyone by having Wyatt vs Orton in the main event of the Smackdown exclusive No Mercy 2016 PPV.

RELATED: 5 Bray Wyatt Feuds We Want To See In His WWE Return (& 5 We Don't)

There was a major Presidential debate that was expected to dominate ratings in the United States that night. WWE planned for this by having the WWE Championship match between AJ Styles, John Cena and Dean Ambrose open the show. Wyatt defeating Orton received the main event spot, so viewers could watch the title match before the debate started.

9 Randy Orton Joined Wyatt Family By Helping Bray Wyatt Beat Kane

Randy Orton And Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt scoring the first big victory over Randy Orton in their feud saw him using the numbers advantage with Luke Harper at his side. Orton eventually leaned into their act by shockingly becoming an official member of the new Wyatt Family.

Kane feuding with Bray after the latter’s victory over Orton saw Randy getting involved to help Wyatt still more victories. The previous versions of the Wyatt Family are considered the best for their chemistry, but Orton made their star power greater than ever before.

8 WWE Sacrificed Heath Slater & Rhyno For Their Tag Run

Bray Wyatt Randy Orton Smackdown Tag Champions

The Smackdown side of WWE after the 2016 brand split felt more chaotic in a good way. An act like Heath Slater and Rhyno could gain momentum and get rewarded by becoming the first-ever Smackdown Tag Team Champions.

However, any act with a shelf life could be dropped quickly in favor of bigger names. Slater and Rhyno saw their momentum running out when WWE had them drop the tag titles to Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. The Wyatt Family enacted the old Freebird role with Luke Harper getting to defend the titles too.

7 Putting Over American Alpha Didn't Work As Expected

American Alpha SmackDown Tag Team Champions

The aftermath of the Wyatt Family winning the Smackdown Tag Team Championship was always to put over a new team. Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt were penciled in to have a WWE Championship program down the line, so the tag titles weren’t that important to their story once proving they could win together.

WWE had the Wyatt Family losing the Smackdown Tag Team Championship belts to American Alpha in a Smackdown main event. Chad Gable and Jason Jordan were the top NXT tag act to get called up in the draft. Unfortunately, not even a win over top talent could convince Vince McMahon to push a tag act if he didn’t believe in them.

6 Won Worst Feud Of The Year In Wrestling Observer Twice

Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton Wrestlemania

WWE placed Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt in polarizing feuds twice. Both the 2017 and 2020 programs against each other had a lot to criticize. Most fan seemed interested in the matches and segments between the two, but the booking left a lot to be desired.

RELATED: 10 Worst Randy Orton WWE Storylines Ever, Ranked

Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards are usually one of the most discussed annual award lists since his readers vote. Wyatt vs Orton won the least desired “Worst Feud of the Year” award twice with the wrestling purists hating the execution.

5 Were Sole Survivors Of All-Time Great Survivor Series Match

Team Raw Vs Team Smackdown

The start of the brand split was the peak of WWE’s now defunct Survivor Series concept of having Raw vs Smackdown matches. WWE booked a tremendous traditional 5 vs 5 elimination match in 2016 between the male main eventers of Raw and Smackdown.

Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt were the sole survivors of the Smackdown side with AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose and Shane McMahon vs Raw’s Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. The match received a top-five all Survivor Series match rating on Cagematch for the layers storytelling ending with Orton and Wyatt standing tall.

4 Jinder Mahal Helped Bray Wyatt Win Final Match Of First Feud

Orton v Wyatt

WWE had Bray Wyatt drafted to Raw in 2017 at the end of his feud with Randy Orton to avoid needing more title rematches. Wyatt dropping the WWE Championship to Orton set up a big cinematic themed non-title rematch before officially moving to Raw.

Jinder Mahal was getting the most random main event push in WWE history at the time when becoming the #1 contender to Orton’s title. This led to Mahal interfering at the end of the Orton/Wyatt match to give Bray a non-title victory back.

3 Randy Orton Won Every Match In Their Second Feud

randy orton burns the fiend alive

The first program between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt was already criticized, but their second feud was even more polarizing. Wyatt’s Fiend character needed some big wins after losing the Universal Championship to both Goldberg and Roman Reigns that year.

WWE made Bray look worse than ever by having Orton win all the big matches. The bigger moments like Orton setting Wyatt on fire seemed to set up a bigger revenge for The Fiend. It ended with Orton squashing Wyatt at WrestleMania 37 in a hated match before WWE fired him months later.

2 WWE Paid Off Randy Orton Vs Edge Feud In Between Bray Wyatt Program

Edge v Randy Orton Raw February 1 2021 Cropped

Bray Wyatt taking time off after Randy Orton set him on fire led to Orton having a huge role in the 2021 Royal Rumble match. Edge and Orton started the match as the first two competitors and lasted all the way until the end.

The win for Edge in the Rumble led to a big singles match the following night where he scored a final decisive victory to move past Orton. WWE did this to pay off their previous feud when Edge loss and left due to injury while Orton was still in a bigger program with Wyatt.

1 Rumors Claimed Randy Orton Ending Bray Wyatt's Title Reign Was Due To Brock Lesnar

Randy Orton WrestleMania 33

The controversial SummerSlam 2016 main event between Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar left many viewers uncomfortable. Even Chris Jericho confronted Brock backstage in their infamous scuffle for the stiff elbow drops busting Orton open the hard way.

Lesnar and Orton planned this out with WWE, but the visual of Orton dripping blood and getting elbowed viciously was a bit much. Dave Meltzer indicated that WWE kept this in mind when wanting to reward Orton with a title run for his professionalism. Bray Wyatt’s first world title reign was sacrificed to give Orton his reign at WrestleMania 33.