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.[1] The following week, his challenge was accepted by AJ Styles, to which Edge responded by performing a low blow on Styles before hitting him with a one-man con-chair-to, turning heel for the first time since 2010.[2] At the event on April 3, Edge defeated Styles following a distraction by Damian Priest.[3][4]

Following WrestleMania, Edge and Priest revealed The Judgment Day as the name of the team.[5] At WrestleMania Backlash, Edge defeated Styles again after Rhea Ripley interfered, becoming the stable's newest member.[6] 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.[7] The next night on Raw, Edge introduced Bálor as the newest member of The Judgment Day; Bálor, Priest, and Ripley suddenly attacked Edge with his own signature con-chair-to move, kicking him out of the group.[8][9]

The Judgment Day then began a feud with The Mysterios (Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio) in an attempt to recruit Dominik into their ranks. Bálor and Priest were defeated by the Mysterios at SummerSlam after interference from the returning Edge. At Clash at the Castle, Bálor and Priest were defeated by Edge and Rey. After the match, Dominik attacked Edge and his own father, turning heel for the first time in his career.[10] Dominik officially joined The Judgment Day on the following episode of Raw, helping the group attack Edge and Rey.[11]

Bálor defeated Edge in an "I Quit" match at Extreme Rules. After the match, Ripley attacked Edge's wife, Beth Phoenix, with a con-chair-to. At Crown Jewel, Bálor, Priest, and Dominik defeated The O.C. (Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) after 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 Belair in a WarGames match.[12] 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.

Judgment Day members Finn Bálor, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio, and Damian Priest

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 Phoenix. Later that night, Ripley won the women's Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Liv Morgan. With this victory, Ripley became the fourth wrestler (after Shawn Michaels in 1995, Chris Benoit in 2004, and Edge in 2021) and the first female to win the Royal Rumble as the first entrant.[13] On the following episode of Raw, Ripley declared that she would be challenging Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 39.[14][15] Flair previously won the 2020 Women's Royal Rumble and defeated Ripley for the NXT Women's Championship at WrestleMania 36.

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.[16] At Night 1 of WrestleMania 39, Dominik was defeated by Rey 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, becoming the seventh Women's Triple Crown champion, the fifth Women's Grand Slam champion, and giving the group their first championship.[17] On Night 2, Bàlor, under his Demon persona, was defeated by Edge in a Hell in a Cell match.[18] 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.[19]

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.[20] 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.[21] At Night of Champions, Ripley defeated Natalya in 70 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.[22] 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.[23]

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.[24] 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, ending Lee's record-setting title reign at 269 days, and giving the group their second championship.[25] Dominik retained his title against Butch of The Brawling Brutes on the following episode of SmackDown.[26] In the process, Dominik became the first WWE Superstar to wrestle in the main events of Raw, NXT and SmackDown in the same week.[27] 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.[28][29] Later that night, McDonagh attacked Sami Zayn, who was scheduled to compete alongside Rhodes and Rollins in a six-man tag team match against Bálor, Priest and Dominik.[30]

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 24th 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.[31] 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. 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 3 days later.[32][33][34] At Fastlane, Bálor and Priest lost the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship to Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso after McDonagh accidentally struck Priest's knee with his briefcase, ending their first reign at 35 days. On the October 16 episode of Raw, Bálor and Priest regained the titles becoming the first tag team to win the undisputed tag titles twice.[35][36]