Wrestling Is OBSESSED With Corruption (...And It's Got To Stop)

Edge Judgment Day
WWE.com

The worst version of one of WWE's best current gimmicks saw spooky lighting and magic powers trumping anything actually meaningful when Edge formed The Judgment Day just after WrestleMania 38.

Damian Priest had aligned with 'The Rated-R Superstar' at 'The Show Of Shows' and the pair of them added Rhea Ripley to their ranks weeks later. Priest and Ripley were freewheeling at the time, but Edge's words of supposed wisdom from his "mountain of omnipotence" (a big chair) didn't exactly make for the most convincing sales pitch. On the March 13th 2023 Raw, the Hall-Of-Famer admitted as much.

Setting up a Hell In A Cell WrestleMania match with the man that ousted him as leader of the group, Edge admitted that Finn Bálor's non-!*$% version of the group was far superior. Beyond just being good build for an impressively well built finale, this also appeared to be WWE owning the idea that searching for sub-Undertaker weirdness in 2023 simply isn't the play...

...until Asuka dribbled goo for the second time in an attempt to spook Bianca Belair ahead of their Championship match on the very same card.

It's better to only be happening once over three hours rather than over and over again on the same broadcasts, but don't think there wouldn't have been places for the aforementioned Bray Wyatt/Uncle Howdy/Alexa Bliss triumvirate had all that not been thrown into disarray, and Valhalla's new trick just happens to reside on Fridays rather than Mondays. Nikki Cross shambling about might have a Sanity-related purpose but if it doesn't, she's got that generic wacky-come-crazy demeanour the company have always liked, and that's only ever a hop, skip and a jump away from her being cursed by an updated reincarnation of Papa Shango.

It's no better in developmental either. On NXT, they are prepping them for main roster corruption!

CONT'D...

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett