Ulster's hopes of progression to the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup fell apart at a wet, cold and muddy Ricoh Arena as Wasps powered to a bonus-point Pool 1 victory.
Les Kiss's men travelled to Coventry with their destiny in their own hands.
A bonus-point success of their own would have guaranteed, not just progression, but a home last-eight showdown.
That never looked like transpiring as Wasps dealt with the poor conditions far better and punished an off-clour visiting display.
Sean Reidy cancelled out Guy Thompson's early try but Tom Cruse put the hosts back in the driving seat and further tries on the turnaround from Willie Le Roux and Jake Cooper-Wooley closed out a deserved victory.
Wasps' win took them above Ulster to finish as runners-up in the pool but their 17-point tally was insufficient for them to qualify and they can only reflect on their poor performances at Harlequins and Ulster, which ultimately proved costly.
Wasps declined a couple of early kickable penalties in favour of attacking line-outs and were rewarded with an 11th-minute try from Thompson when Ulster could not stop a forward drive.
Cipriani converted before the Irish side suffered a further setback when their national squad wing Jacob Stockdale limped off and was replaced by Rob Lyttle.
Both sides tried to play some open rugby but the miserable conditions made it virtually impossible and hence Thompson's converted try was the only score of the opening quarter.
Against the run of play, Ulster drew level when Christian Wade tried to run out of defence but his pass was intercepted by Louis Ludik and the visitors capitalised with Darren Cave sending Reidy over.
After 31 minutes, Wasps regained the lead with a splendid try which belied the conditions. They produced a flowing move, which ended with Cruse collecting a superbly judged kick from Cipriani to score.
Cipriani then knocked over the conversion from the touchline to give his side a deserved 14-7 lead at the interval.
At half-time, Ulster lost another wing through injury when Ludik was unable to reappear, having failed a head injury assessment.
After the restart the home side continued their ascendancy and were rewarded with their third try.
An elusive run from Le Roux put the Ulster defence on the back foot and when Wasps nicked a turnover, a well-judged long pass from Cipriani sent Le Roux haring for the line.
The home side sealed victory in the 55th minute when Cooper-Woolley forced his way over from close range for the bonus-point try.
With the game won, Wasps emptied their bench with Cooper-Woolley one of the players to leave with Joe Simpson replacing Dan Robson at scrum-half as the game fizzled out in the final quarter.
RECAP: SUNDAY'S CHAMPIONS CUP ACTION
Wasps: Willie le Roux, Christian Wade, Juan de Jongh, Kyle Eastmond (Brendan Macken 67), Marcus Watson, Danny Cipriani, Dan Robson (Joe Simpson 62); Simon McIntyre (Ben Harris 62), Tom Cruse (Ashley Johnson 63), Jake Cooper-Woolley (Marty Moore 62), Joe Launchbury, James Gaskell (Kearnan Myall 55), Jack Willis (Thomas Young 55), Guy Thompson, Nizaam Carr.
Ulster: Charles Piutau, Louis Ludik (Johnny McPhillips 33), Darren Cave, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale (Rob Lyttle 17), Christian Leali’ifano (Dave Shanahan 73), John Cooney; Kyle McCall (Andy Warwick 55), Rory Best (Rob Herring 58), Rodney Ah You (Wiehahn Herbst 51), Alan O’Connor, Kieran Treadwell (Matty Rea 58), Iain Henderson, Sean Reidy, Nick Timoney (Chris Henry 66).
Referee: Jerome Garces (France)
