18 Ups & 15 Downs For WWE In 2023

3. Judgment Day Runs Raw

A year ago, the thought of the Judgment Day being a dominant faction that’s taken seriously as a main-event threat would be laughable.

After all, the purple-clad group had just survived a disastrous turn with Edge creating and helming the group, then becoming a near-comedy stable as they recruited Dominik Mysterio to join their ranks.

Then, it all clicked.

Rhea Ripley became a central, dominant component of the women’s division, winning the title at WrestleMania in a celebrated match against Charlotte Flair. Dominik Mysterio matured and evolved, leaning into the trolling nature of his character. Damian Priest developed into a potential main-event talent, winning the Money in the Bank briefcase and having a tremendous featured match versus Bad Bunny at Backlash. And Finn Balor was just as solid as ever holding everything together.

At one point, Judgment Day held the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship, the Women’s World Championship and the NXT North American Championship, with Priest also holding the MITB briefcase. That was a haul that rivaled the Bloodline in terms of gold, and it lent an air of credibility to the group.

While there might not be a long-term men’s world champion in the group, the Judgment Day deserves credit for an extremely successful year that in turn made WWE programming better.