Randy Orton vs. Luke Harper: Winner, Reaction for WWE Elimination Chamber 2017

Ahead of his WWE Championship match at WrestleMania, Randy Orton was victorious Sunday at Elimination Chamber in a grudge match against former Wyatt Family brother Luke Harper.

Harper looked to finish Orton off with his patented discus clothesline. The Viper blocked the attack, though, and hit an RKO as Harper spun back around. From there, Orton secured the pinfall.

WWE showed Orton pointing to the WrestleMania sign and glimpsing at his future:

Wrestling Inc. thought Orton and Harper delivered in the ring:

TDE Wrestling and PWMania's Jason Solomon thought Harper looked good in a losing effort:

Bray Wyatt pitted Orton and Harper against each other on the go-home episode of SmackDown prior to the Royal Rumble. After The Viper won that match, Wyatt essentially kicked Harper out of the family.

Harper got some measure of revenge in the Rumble match itself by laying out the Eater of Worlds with a clothesline, but Orton went on to win and earn a main event slot at WrestleMania.

Although Harper stood against the Wyatt Family and teamed with John Cena two days later on SmackDown, it appeared as though Wyatt still had some type of hold over him.

That changed the following week when he interfered during a bout between Cena and Orton.

After Wyatt entered the ring, Harper showed up and laid him out. He then followed that up by pushing Orton into an Attitude Adjustment, which netted Cena the victory, as seen in this tweet courtesy of WWE's official Twitter account:

While the Wyatt Family—composed of Wyatt, Orton and Harper—enjoyed a great deal of success together, there always seemed to be tension.

Wyatt appeared to favor the Apex Predator over Harper, which led to jealousy and eventually a falling out among the trio.

Leading up to Sunday's match, Harper made it clear that he was always wary of Orton and his intentions within the family:

Although The Viper's entry into the Wyatt Family initially seemed fishy, he has remained loyal to Wyatt thus far and helped the group enjoy more success than ever before.

Due to Harper losing on numerous occasions and even costing the family the SmackDown Tag Team Championships to American Alpha due to botched interference, he became the odd man out.

Harper may have viewed Elimination Chamber as an opportunity to prove to Wyatt that he still belonged, while Orton had a chance to gain some momentum heading toward his title shot at the Showcase of the Immortals.

Orton got the better of Harper once again, which not only solidified him as Wyatt's preferred partner but also made it clear that he is a massive threat to prevail on the Grandest Stage of Them All.

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