Jason Burgos
All the pieces are in place for an unexpected reunion of an early version of Judgment Day, along with R-Truth, on WWE’s SmackDown.
If you ask a WWE fan what has been the best faction in the company over the last few years, the answer is sure to be the Bloodline, and it’s a good response. The group was a dominant force for several years and seems to be reformed on RAW. However, Judgment Day is a pretty close second in terms of influence and impact.
In April of 2022, WWE Hall of Famer Edge aligned with Damian Priest at that year’s WrestleMania. Soon after he added Rhea Ripley to what would become Judgement Day. However, when Finn Balor became the next member in June of that year, Edge was ousted as the leader. That is when the faction really began to take off.
Over the next two years, they won the tag gold a couple of times. Priest won the Money in the Bank briefcase and became World Heavyweight Champion. Ripley emerged as a dominant Women’s World Champion. And maybe biggest of all, they turned Dominik Mysterio to the dark side and helped create a major heel on Monday Nights.
However, at SummerSlam 2024, it all came apart when Balor and Liv Morgan led a coup that saw both Ripley and Priest ousted from the group on the same night. The pair of OG members have been solo ever since, while Judgment Day is going strong on RAW and has seen a few evolutions. Yet, it hasn’t been as good or impactful as when it was Ripley, Priest, and Balor.
SmackDown is set up for a Judgment Day reunion this summer
Well, that could change soon. Over the weekend, WWE revealed that Balor had been “traded” to the SmackDown brand. Oddly enough, Priest has been there for over a year and is now tag team champions with the man who wanted to be in the group throughout the first half of 2024, R-Truth. Also, after beating Jade Cargill at WrestleMania, Ripley is also on the blue brand as the current WWE Women’s Champion.
Interestingly, is that Priest, Ripley, and now Balor are all back on the side of light as babyfaces. Priest and Truth have an ongoing rivalry with the MFTs and could use some backup. Ripley is feuding with Cargill’s faction and surely could use more trusted help. All three have admitted that Judgment Day was one of the best times of their career, and the story of Balor and Priest restarting their friendship after a bitter feud in 2024 could lead to some great storytelling.
If WWE ever considered reuniting the OG Judgment Day, the table is set for that to happen on SmackDown this summer. And the cherry on top is that it could happen with R-Truth in the group to replace Mysterio. The bigger question may not be if the trio reunites, but what will be their name if they can’t use Judgment Day since the crew on RAW still does.
