5 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE WrestleMania Backlash 2022

4. Edge’s Cult Grows

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The rumors had been floating out there for some time now, but finally, on Sunday, Edge’s Judgement Day group grew from a duo to a trio.

As Edge’s match against AJ Styles broke down, a masked and hooded figure appeared and yanked Styles off the top rope, allowing the Rated-R Superstar to lock in the crossface to pick up the win in a decent – but not blow-away – match.

Afterwards, the dark figure climbed into the ring to pledge loyalty to Edge, and then unmasked to reveal… Rhea Ripley.

For Ripley, this has to be considered a step up. She has been floundering for months in various tag teams, seemingly being wasted while kept away from the singles title scene. Of course, Edge’s Judgement Day has been an unintentional melodramatic comedy act at times, but this could be a big boon for Ripley by being part of a heel faction with the boys.

Let’s just tone down on the “mountain of omnipotence” chatter, OK?

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Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.