6 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (Sept. 12)

4. Judgment Day Gets Off Mysterio Train

Monday’s opening match was noteworthy for one important reason: It finally brought someone else into Judgment Day’s orbit.

Ever since Finn Balor joined the group in June, he and Damian Priest have only faced five men in matches: Rey and Dominik Mysterio, Rey’s best friend Edge, and a short offshoot against AJ Styles and Dolph Ziggler.

For Balor, six of his last eight televised matches involved the Mysterios. For Priest, seven of his last eight TV bouts involved the Mysterios or Edge. That’s a lot of repeat matches.

But Monday, Finn tangled with Matt Riddle in a solid opening match that lasted a good 14 minutes. Although there was some outside interference, there was a decisive finish, with Balor hitting the Coup de Grace on Riddle for the pin after several near-falls.

Now, if we could see Judgment Day branch out a bit more and fight others on the Raw roster, that would be nice. We’ve done the Mysterios and Edge to death. At least have some side matches with others to keep things fresh.