page_title: Randy Orton
section_title: Wyatt Family (2016–2017)
hierarchical_section_title: Randy Orton / Professional wrestling career / World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment / WWE / Wyatt Family (2016–2017)
caption_attribution_description: Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton posing over Dean Ambrose
context_page_description: Randal Keith Orton is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand.
  Orton is a third-generation professional wrestler; his grandfather Bob Orton, father Bob Orton Jr., and uncle Barry Orton were all professional wrestlers. Before being signed by the World Wrestling Federation, he trained in and wrestled for Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association-Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling. He was then signed by the WWF and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he held the OVW Hardcore Championship twice.
  Orton became a member of the stable Evolution shortly after his WWE debut, which quickly led to an Intercontinental Championship reign, his first title with the company. He also acquired the moniker "The Legend Killer" during a storyline where he began disrespecting and then physically attacking WWE Hall of Famers and wrestling veterans. At age 24, he became the youngest world champion in WWE history after he won the World Heavyweight Championship from Chris Benoit. With this win, he departed from Evolution and a feud with his former stablemates began.
context_section_description: On the July 7, 2016 episode of SmackDown, Orton was revealed as Brock Lesnar's opponent for SummerSlam. On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, Orton was drafted to SmackDown, while Lesnar was drafted to Raw. On July 24 at Battleground, Orton returned as a guest on Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel to be interviewed about his match with Lesnar. Orton explained that he wanted to face Lesnar to prove that he belonged in the top spot, before executing an RKO on Jericho. On the July 26 episode of SmackDown Live, Orton interrupted Intercontinental Champion The Miz during his Miz TV segment before defeating Miz in a non-title match. During Lesnar's promo on the August 1 episode of Raw, Orton appeared and delivered an RKO to Lesnar. The following night on SmackDown Live, Lesnar attacked Orton during his match, delivering an F-5 to Orton. At SummerSlam, Lesnar defeated Orton by technical knockout after a series of elbows to the head, leaving Orton with an open wound which required 10 staples.
  On the August 23 episode of SmackDown Live, Orton spoke about his match against Lesnar and declared that he and Lesnar would cross paths again before Bray Wyatt interrupted him, therefore resuming their feud. The following week on SmackDown Live, Orton accepted Wyatt's challenge for a match at Backlash, where Orton lost by forfeit after a backstage attack by Wyatt before the show. It was later revealed that Orton was not cleared to wrestle at the event due to a legitimate concussion that occurred the previous month at SummerSlam. Orton faced Wyatt at No Mercy, where he lost due to a distraction by the returning Luke Harper. On the October 11 episode of Smackdown Live, Orton was teamed with Kane in a tag team match against Wyatt and Harper, but once again lost the match due to distraction by Harper. On the October 25 episode of SmackDown Live, Orton interfered on Wyatt's behalf in his match with Kane, leading to speculation that he had joined The Wyatt Family, though this was neither confirmed nor denied by WWE or Orton. On the November 1 episode of SmackDown Live, Wyatt and Harper helped Orton win his match against Kane, thus confirming Orton's alliance with the group, turning heel in the process.
  That same night, Orton and Wyatt were revealed as members of Team SmackDown for Survivor Series. At the event, Team SmackDown defeated Team Raw, where Orton and Wyatt became the last two surviving members of their team. On the November 29 episode of SmackDown Live, Orton and Wyatt defeated American Alpha to earn a shot at the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against Heath Slater and Rhyno. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, they won the titles, marking Orton's first tag team championship in a decade. It was later announced that Harper was also champion under the Freebird Rule. On the December 27 episode of SmackDown Live, they lost the SmackDown Tag Team Championship to American Alpha in a fatal four-way tag team elimination match, after Orton accidentally hit Harper. On January 29, 2017 at the Royal Rumble, Orton won the Royal Rumble match for the second time in his career by lastly eliminating Roman Reigns. Despite this, Orton came out after Wyatt successfully defended the WWE Championship and relinquished his shot at the title on the February 14 episode of SmackDown Live, basically giving his full devotion to Wyatt and leaving the main event of WrestleMania in the air. On the February 28 episode of SmackDown Live, Orton turned on Wyatt while Wyatt was delivering his promo and was seen entering Wyatt's compound, where he claimed that despite being Wyatt's home, it was not his home and declared his intentions to burn the soul of "Sister Abigail". He then set the entire compound on fire after stating that he would face Wyatt at WrestleMania 33, turning face again. On the March 7 episode of SmackDown Live, Orton defeated AJ Styles to become the number one contender for the WWE Championship. On April 2 at WrestleMania 33, Orton defeated Wyatt to win the WWE Championship for the ninth time, which was also his first WWE Championship win at WrestleMania and 13th 
caption: Orton with Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt as one third of the SmackDown Tag Team Champions
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