The Judgment Day

On the February 21, 2022 episode of *Raw*, Edge reflected on all the WrestleMania moments in his career and then he issued an open challenge for WrestleMania 38. The following week, his challenge was accepted by AJ Styles, to which Edge responded by hitting a low blow on Styles before hitting him with a one-man con-chair-to, turning heel in the process. At the event on April 3, Edge defeated Styles following a distraction by Damian Priest.

Following WrestleMania, Edge accepted Priest as his pupil and the team's name was revealed as **The Judgment Day**. On the April 18 episode of *Raw*, Edge challenged Styles to a rematch at WrestleMania Backlash, which Styles accepted. At the event on May 8, Edge defeated Styles after a masked individual, later revealed to be Rhea Ripley, shoved Styles off the turnbuckle. After the match, Ripley kneeled before Edge, becoming the stable's newest member. At Hell in a Cell on June 5, The Judgment Day defeated Styles, Finn Bálor, and Liv Morgan in a six-person mixed tag team match. The next night on *Raw*, Edge introduced Bálor as the newest member of The Judgment Day; however, Bálor, Priest, and Ripley suddenly attacked Edge and hit him with Edge's own con-chair-to, kicking him out of the stable.

The Judgment Day then began a feud with the Mysterios (Rey and Dominik) in an attempt to recruit Dominik into their ranks. At SummerSlam on July 30, Bálor and Priest were defeated by the Mysterios following interference from a returning Edge. At Clash at the Castle, Edge and Rey would defeat Bálor and Priest in a tag team match. After the match, Dominik attacked Edge and his own father, turning heel. Dominik officially joined the stable on the following episode of *Raw,* helping the group attack Edge and Rey.

On the September 26 episode of *Raw,* Edge challenged Bálor to an "I Quit" match at Extreme Rules, and Bálor accepted. At the event on October 8, Bálor defeated Edge. After the match, Ripley attacked Edge’s wife, Beth Phoenix (who interfered in the match on Edge’s behalf) with a con-chair-to. Shortly afterwards, The Judgment Day resumed their feud with AJ Styles, who brought back the returning O.C. (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson), after Styles rejected an offer to join by Balor. This led to a match between the two stables at Crown Jewel. At the event on November 5, The Judgment Day defeated The O.C. following interference from Ripley. On the following episode of *Raw,* The O.C. introduced the returning Mia Yim as their solution to counter Ripley. At Survivor Series WarGames on November 26, Bálor was defeated by Styles while Ripley's team was defeated by Team Bianca Belair in a WarGames match. On the following episode of *Raw,* The Judgment Day defeated The O.C. in an eight-person mixed tag team match to end their feud.

At the Royal Rumble on January 28, Dominik, Bálor, and Priest participated the men's Royal Rumble match. Bálor and Priest were eliminated by Edge, while Dominik was eliminated by the eventual winner, Cody Rhodes. Ripley also appeared at ringside to assist Bálor, Priest, and Dominik in their attack on Edge, only to be attacked by Beth Phoenix. Later that night, Ripley won the women's Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Liv Morgan. On the following episode of *Raw*, Ripley declared that she would be challenging Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 39.

At Elimination Chamber on February 18, Bálor and Ripley were defeated by Edge and Phoenix in a mixed tag team match despite interference from Dominik, while Priest failed to win the United States Championship inside the namesake structure. On night one of WrestleMania 39, Dominik was defeated by Rey Mysterio after interference from the newly-reformed Latino World Order and Bad Bunny. Later that night, Ripley defeated Flair to win the SmackDown Women's Championship, giving the group their first championship. On night two, Bàlor, under his Demon persona, was defeated by Edge in a Hell in a Cell match. During the match, Bálor suffered an injury after getting hit by a ladder thrown by Edge and had to be medically treated in the ring.

On the *Raw* after WrestleMania, Priest confronted Bad Bunny for his involvement in Dominik's match against Rey which led to Priest chokeslamming Bunny through the announce table. At Backlash, Ripley successfully defended her title against Zelina Vega while Priest was defeated by Bad Bunny in a San Juan street fight after interference from Savio Vega and Carlito. Balor and Priest participated in the tournament for the new World Heavyweight Championship, but they were both eliminated by the eventual champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins. At Night of Champions, Ripley defeated Natalya in seventy seconds to retain her title. On the June 12 episode of *Raw,* the SmackDown Women's Championship was renamed to the Women's World Championship and Ripley was presented a brand-new championship belt. Later that night, Cody Rhodes challenged Dominik to a match at Money in the Bank, which Ripley accepted on his behalf. Priest also defeated Matt Riddle to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match. At the event on July 1, Priest won the Money in the Bank ladder match. Later that night, Dominik was defeated by Rhodes despite interference from Ripley while Bálor failed to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Rollins after Priest appeared halfway through the match. Priest's presence distracted Bálor long enough for Rollins to capitalize and retain the title. On the following episode of *Raw,* Ripley defeated Natalya again to retain the Women's World Championship while Dominik lost to Rollins by disqualification. Priest attempted to cash in on Rollins only for Bálor to attack the latter. Tensions within The Judgment Day soon ended after Bálor, Priest, and Dominik defeated Rollins and Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in a six-man tag team match after interference from Ripley. The following week, Dominik and Priest failed to win the tag team titles from Owens and Zayn after Rollins and Liv Morgan took out Bálor and Ripley. The next night on *NXT*, Dominik defeated Wes Lee for the NXT North American Championship after interference from Bálor, Priest, and Ripley to win his first singles championship in WWE and the group's second championship. Dominik retained his title against Butch of The Brawling Brutes on the following episode of *SmackDown*. On the following episode of *Raw,* Dominik defeated Sami Zayn to retain the title. At NXT The Great American Bash on July 30, Dominik retained the title against Lee and Mustafa Ali in a triple threat match after interference from Ripley. At SummerSlam on August 5, Bálor failed to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Rollins despite interference from Priest, which Bálor and Priest argued about on the following episode of *Raw* in an backstage segment including Ripley, Dominik, and Bálor's longtime friend JD McDonagh, who advised Priest cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase soon so that he and Bálor get back on the same page. Later that night, McDonagh attacked Sami Zayn, who was scheduled to compete alongside Cody Rhodes and Rollins in a six-man tag team match against Bálor, Priest and Dominik. On the August 8 episode of *NXT,* Dominik defeated Dragon Lee to retain his title.

At Payback on September 2, Bálor and Priest defeated Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to win the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship in a Pittsburgh Steel City street fight after interference from Dominik, Ripley and McDonagh. With this victory, Bálor became the twenty-fourth Grand Slam Champion and The Judgment Day also became the second faction, after The Bloodline, to hold titles across all three brands. Ripley went on to retain the Women's World Championship against Raquel Rodriguez later that night. On the September 11 episode of *Raw,* Ripley successfully defended the Women's World Championship against Rodriguez in a rematch under the stipulation that Dominik was barred from ringside. Following the match, Ripley was attacked by the returning Nia Jax, sidelining her for two weeks. On the September 25 episode of *Raw,* Dominik successfully defended his title against Dragon Lee while Bálor and Priest successfully defended their titles in a rematch against Owens and Zayn.

At NXT No Mercy on September 30, Dominik lost the NXT North American Championship to Trick Williams, ending his first reign at 74 days. However, Dominik regained the title in a rematch on the October 3 episode of *NXT*. Three days later at Fastlane on October 7, Bálor and Priest lost the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships to Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso after McDonagh accidentally hit Priest's knee with the briefcase, ending their first reign at 35 days, but they regained the titles in a rematch nine days later. On night two of NXT Halloween Havoc, Dominik defeated Nathan Frazer to retain his title. At Crown Jewel on November 4, Priest attempted to cash in on Rollins after his successful title defense against Drew McIntyre, but Zayn, who defeated McDonagh on the kickoff show, stopped him and ran off with the briefcase before he could officially do so. Later that night, Ripley successfully defended the Women's World Championship against Jax, Rodriguez, Shayna Baszler, and Zoey Stark in a fatal five-way match while Priest lost to Rhodes despite interference from Bálor, Dominik, and McDonagh.

In the following months, McDonagh was officially added to The Judgment Day and at Survivor Series WarGames, the team of the Judgment Day and Drew McIntyre lost in a WarGames match to Rhodes, Uso, Rollins, Zayn and a returning Randy Orton. On December 9 at NXT Deadline, Dominik lost the NXT North American Championship to Dragon Lee, ending his second reign at 67 days. Over the next few weeks, the group began feuding with R-Truth over his efforts to join them. On the December 18 episode of *Raw,* McDonagh lost to R-Truth in a "Loser Leaves Judgment Day" Miracle on 34th street fight match. However, the "Loser Leaves Judgment Day" stipulation was not official, and McDonagh remained part of the group in spite of his defeat.