Randy Orton's Best Booking Option for WWE Elimination Chamber 2017

Out of nowhere, Randy Orton has shot up the hierarchy on the SmackDown roster with his Royal Rumble victory, which guarantees he will challenge for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 33 on April 2.

This is a big step forward, as his career trajectory for the majority of 2016 wasn't exactly heading to new heights. He's a legend and a future Hall of Famer, but this past year was less than kind to him in many ways.

After being on the shelf for a good portion of the year, he returned to suffer utter humiliation at the hands of Brock Lesnar. Karma would reciprocate and treat The Beast Incarnate the same once Goldberg got back into the mix, but in the meantime, Orton was failing to overcome The Wyatt Family.

Eventually, he would succumb to the mentality of "if you can't beat them, join them," and after he pledged himself to the cult, the losses started to turn into wins.

He and Bray Wyatt defeated Team Raw at Survivor Series and then won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship for a brief stint, before he took a small step back and geared up for his big Royal Rumble match victory.

It took a while for The Viper to get back on track, which is why it is crucial for WWE to capitalize on his current standing. The company cannot misuse him at Elimination Chamber on February 12 and risk hurting his draw for WrestleMania.

Orton cannot sit out the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view just because he is the No. 1 contender, so WWE needs to be careful in how it books him for the event.

It's important to frame everything regarding the Elimination Chamber in the context of what the most likely scenario for WrestleMania will be: Orton vs. Wyatt.

On this week's Talking Smack, Orton was asked who he would prefer to face at WrestleMania, and he predominantly talked about John Cena, stating that fans want to see the match again "whether [they] know it or not."

After so many years of those two feuding, it's unlikely that scenario will go down. The more interesting story to be told is the fracturing of Orton's partnership with The Eater of Worlds.

While one can argue that many other people deserve to be in the WWE Championship picture just as much, if not more, than Orton and Wyatt, it was obvious months ago that this feud would be inevitable for WrestleMania. It was more of a question of how it would go down rather than if it would happen.

Since Orton is essentially deadlocked into a title match, if WWE doesn't sidestep the feud and postpone it until after WrestleMania, it means Wyatt needs to win the WWE Championship in the Elimination Chamber.

That brings up a few questions, though.

For one, if Wyatt is a true puppet master, Orton shouldn't want to wrestle him. He should just lie down at WrestleMania and allow Wyatt to pin him—which is something WWE would never be stupid enough to do at the biggest show of the year.

To explain that, WWE needs to play up the idea and tease that it might actually happen. We need to see Wyatt pulling the strings and planting it in our minds that with his underling as the No. 1 contender, he will by default remain the champion.

Eventually, this needs to get under Orton's skin and lead him to turn on Wyatt because the championship is more important. But for now, he needs to remain loyal.

Luke Harper just did the same thing by leaving The Wyatt Family, and if Orton were to follow it up only two weeks later, it would lack impact.

How does WWE avoid making it seem like there will be tension between Orton and Wyatt throughout March and heading into April? The answer to that is to use Harper.

Orton should face Harper at Elimination Chamber in order to further illustrate The Apex Predator remains firmly in Wyatt's corner, whereas the former Face of Desolation has gone rogue and needs to be taught a lesson.

Furthermore, if WWE wishes to really stave off predictions that Orton and Wyatt will split, we need to see Orton actually help Wyatt win the championship in the Elimination Chamber match itself.

A good subordinate doesn't relish in his own success while leaving his boss out to dry, so Orton can't be too concerned with his own dealings.

Wyatt can be happy about Orton's Royal Rumble win, but his own top priority should be winning the WWE Championship, and he should command Orton to help that become a reality.

Since WWE has booked itself into a position where Orton vs. Wyatt is the go-to match to set up for WrestleMania, the Elimination Chamber event has to end with the two of them looking as strong as possible.

If WWE fails in getting the ball rolling with as much momentum as possible, this will come off like a lackluster main event for the biggest show of the year, even though 2017 doesn't have anywhere near as many card-crippling injuries as compared to last year's road to WrestleMania.

Orton has to cement his status as pro-Wyatt, so by putting Harper down and helping Wyatt win the championship, he would not only look stronger by getting a victory over an imposing figure, but both he and Wyatt also come off like an unstoppable duo.

Once the two of them have conquered the land and all hope seems lost, the story will need to shift after Elimination Chamber—slowly but surely leading them down to a compelling clash.

If WWE makes the right choices, Orton will walk out of WrestleMania as WWE champion and having finally conquered Wyatt, taking down his faction from the inside and positioning himself as the top babyface on SmackDown.

"If you can't beat them, join them" will need to be replaced with the phrase "I am not my brother's keeper," and it all has to start with a strong showing for Orton at Elimination Chamber.

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.