Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper: Winner and Reaction from WWE SmackDown

Dean Ambrose defeated Luke Harper Tuesday night on SmackDown Live in a singles match after The Wyatt Family member attacked him last week.

WWE provided the result: 

After the match, Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton emerged and attacked Ambrose. Along with Harper, it was The Wyatt Family who stood tall at the end of the match, via WWE Universe: 

To pile on, The Miz also took his turn taunting Ambrose, via WWE Universe: 

In the opening segment of last week's SmackDown, multiple Superstars attempted to stake their claim to a shot at AJ Styles' WWE Championship, including Ambrose.

The Lunatic Fringe was surprised and clotheslined by Harper, though, which set the stage for a Fatal 4-Way involving those two competitors, Dolph Ziggler and The Miz.

Ziggler prevailed to become the new No. 1 contender for The Phenomenal One's title, which left Ambrose with the opportunity to get some revenge on Harper.

Ambrose has a long history with Harper dating back to their time on the independent scene, and they even had a lengthy feud with one another in WWE in 2015.

The bad blood surfaced once again last week, however, which set the stage for a highly anticipated match between two of the premier brawlers WWE has to offer.    

While Ambrose entered with the edge in terms of his track record as a former world champion, the ever-looming presence of Wyatt and Orton gave Harper a huge advantage when it came to the numbers game.

Ambrose is no stranger to overcoming the odds, though, and he is familiar with The Wyatt Family's tactics of isolating those without backup.

The Wyatts have operated as a well-oiled unit recently, as the trio is in possession of the SmackDown Tag Team Championship and has been given permission to defend it under Freebird Rules much like The New Day did on Raw.

At the same time, Orton has seemingly become Wyatt's favored companion over Harper, which has created some awkward moments at times and could lead to a blowup eventually.

Regardless of where that situation is going, Ambrose managed to overcome Harper and the presence of The Wyatt Family, which gives him momentum with the Royal Rumble approaching.

Ambrose figures to be among the top contenders in that match, but he may have to continue getting one up on The Wyatt Family to get there in one piece.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.