Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena vs. AJ Styles: Winner, Reaction from WWE Title Match

Just two days after winning the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber, Bray Wyatt retained the title on SmackDown Live Tuesday night.

Wyatt was originally slated to face John Cena in a singles match, but SmackDown Live general manager Daniel Bryan inserted AJ Styles into the fray to make it a Triple Threat match.

Wyatt's chances were looking bleak early, after Luke Harper attacked him before the opening bell. He recovered, though, to take the fight to Cena and Styles.

The champion showed great ring awareness en route to defending the WWE Championship. Cena prevented Styles from delivering the Phenomenal Forearm by bouncing off the ropes, which sent Styles to the outside.

Before Cena had time to refocus his attention on Wyatt, Wyatt hit Sister Abigail to pick up the victory. WWE shared a replay of the finishing move:

WWE Creative Humor was surprised to see Cena on the receiving end of the pinfall:

Adding further intrigue to WrestleMania 33, Randy Orton, the Royal Rumble winner, said after the match he won't face off with his fellow Wyatt Family member, per WWE:

Wyatt outlasted five of SmackDown's top Superstars to win the belt on Sunday, and he was responsible for eliminating Cena and Styles from the match.

According to WWE Stats & Info, taking Cena out of the contest allowed The Eater of Worlds to join some exclusive company:

After Orton won the Rumble, it became apparent that Wyatt had a legitimate chance to become world champion for the first time in his career.

Once he accomplished that feat, The New Face of Fear sent out an ominous tweet suggesting he would be the one to lead the blue brand toward WrestleMania:

While the victory was huge for Wyatt considering how close he had come to reaching the pinnacle of WWE on previous occasions, he wasn't afforded much of an opportunity to celebrate.

With Cena being owed an automatic rematch for the title, Bryan and SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon gave him a chance to regain the championship as quickly as possible.

Defeating Styles at the Royal Rumble allowed Cena to tie Ric Flair's all-time record with 16 world title reigns, so he entered SmackDown with the opportunity to make history in the form of No. 17.

Cena is rarely an underdog, but few expected him to come out on top considering the way SmackDown's title picture has taken shape since the Rumble.

Having Orton face Wyatt for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania is natural storyline progression, especially if the plan is for The Viper to eventually implode the Wyatt Family from the inside after surprisingly joining the group several months ago.

Orton's comments Tuesday night would serve to make the breakup even more impactful. It adds a little more drama to the story than if Orton beat up Wyatt so soon after Elimination Chamber.

Looking at the bigger picture, there's little reason to take Orton's words at face value based on his WWE career. He didn't earn The Viper moniker because of his trustworthiness.

With over a month before WrestleMania, there's still plenty of time for Orton to stab Wyatt in the back in pursuit of the WWE Championship.

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