Bray Wyatt Wins WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber 2017

Bray Wyatt defeated five other Superstars at Sunday night's Elimination Chamber pay-per-view to win the WWE Championship for the first time in his career.

Wyatt won the title from John Cena and also defeated AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, The Miz and Baron Corbin in the high-stakes Elimination Chamber match.

Wyatt eliminated Styles last to capture gold. He had previously hit Sister Abigail on Cena, ensuring that SmackDown would have a new world champion.

From there, Wyatt and Styles engaged in a physical head-to-head battle. Styles looked to finish Wyatt off with one more Phenomenal Forearm. Wyatt caught Styles and quickly countered into Sister Abigail to be the last man standing.

Bleacher Report's Kevin Berge praised the new champion:

B/R's Ryan Dilbert thought the main event delivered on all counts:

WWE Creative Humor found some comedy in Wyatt's engaging in the traditional spot with the WrestleMania sign above the ring:

SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon had announced prior to the Royal Rumble on Jan. 29 that whoever came away from that event as WWE champion would be forced to defend the title in one of the most destructive matches WWE has to offer.

Cena defeated Styles in a five-star classic to tie the record as a 16-time world champion, but his reign was immediately put in jeopardy.

The leader of the Cenation has always been up for a challenge, though, and the following tweet suggests he embraced the opportunity to do battle with five of the best SmackDown has to offer:

It didn't take long before Cena was met with opposition, as The Wyatt Family interrupted his celebratory promo on the first SmackDown following his win at the Royal Rumble.

Wyatt made his intention to win the championship at Elimination Chamber clear, while Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton vowed to pick up the pieces if Cena managed to escape the match with the title in tow, according to WWE Universe on Twitter:

Although Cena has long had a penchant for overcoming the odds, he entered Elimination Chamber as an underdog due to the manner in which WrestleMania appears to be taking shape.

Cena and Orton have faced each other many times over the years, and another bout between them at WrestleMania seemed unlikely.

With The Viper lying in wait as the No. 1 contender, every indication was that the winner of the chamber match would go on to face Orton at WrestleMania with the title on the line.

That factor made someone like Wyatt a possible winner Sunday due to the fact that an implosion of The Wyatt Family between Orton and The Eater of Worlds has been anticipated since Orton joined the group.

The Elimination Chamber always provides several different options from a booking perspective, and the creative team decided that pitting Orton and Wyatt against each other made for the best WrestleMania storyline.

While the build toward that match promises to feature plenty of intrigue, there are now major question marks regarding what Cena and Styles will be tasked with doing on the Grandest Stage of Them All.

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