{"id":120789,"date":"2023-10-24T12:00:42","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T16:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=120789"},"modified":"2023-10-23T03:32:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T07:32:12","slug":"what-is-wwe-doing-with-judgment-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2023\/10\/24\/what-is-wwe-doing-with-judgment-day\/","title":{"rendered":"What is WWE Doing With Judgment Day?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><em><strong>WWE Monday Night Raw<\/strong><\/em> saw a surprise title change, with <strong>Finn Balor<\/strong> and <strong>Damian Priest<\/strong> capturing <strong>WWE&#8217;s<\/strong> Unified Tag Team Titles. The moment fits into a larger pattern and has left many on social media wondering, what is WWE doing with <strong>Judgment Day<\/strong>? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The title change occurred just over a week after Judgment Day lost the belts initially. It is also not the first time they had the hero overcome the heel faction, only for the faction to immediately get their win back. Likewise, the faction has been in limbo to serve all of these other stories across<em><strong> Raw<\/strong><\/em>, <em><strong>SmackDown<\/strong><\/em>, and <em><strong>NXT<\/strong><\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Some point to a broader narrative or longer view, but most stories don&#8217;t require an immediate step forward and back. Likewise, the booking makes it hard to follow precisely what is happening with the group.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jimmy Uso Helps Judgment Day Win Tag Titles! | WWE Raw Highlights 10\/16\/23 | WWE on USA\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Dm92cTcqIdw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">When an act is on television as much as Judgment Day, it can add pressure to use it everywhere. That could mean booking these back-and-forth wins and losses and dropping stories for just one show a week. It can also mean stunting the momentum of guys like <strong>Carmelo Hayes<\/strong>, <strong>Trick Williams<\/strong>, and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2023\/09\/11\/jey-uso-should-win-the-world-heavyweight-championship\/\" target=\"_self\">Jey Uso<\/a>.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">When looked at together, those moves usually annoy the most dedicated fans. Although the faction is still white hot, featuring on all three shows, the strange booking might eventually take a toll on them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Long Narrative or Not, This is Still Hot Shot Booking<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There are very few reasons to hotshot the title in wrestling. Typically, whenever a promotion does that, it is seen as just trying to gin up artificial excitement. WWE has been doing some fantastic work recently. They have been telling lots of long and more complex stories. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><strong>The Bloodline<\/strong>, Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes, <strong>Gunther&#8217;s<\/strong> reign, and Judgment Day have been booked into these longer narrative stories with multiple characters and miniature arcs. Many fans have desperately waited for WWE to start this more long-form narrative storytelling. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It was the reason the rumors of <strong>Triple H&#8217;s<\/strong> ascendency caused excitement. Those new and improved stories don&#8217;t change long-held truths, though. Multiple rapid title changes are always playing hot potato with titles. That it keeps happening within the same group is even worse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dominik Mysterio vs Trick Williams | Championship Rematch | WWE NXT Highlights 10\/03\/23 | WWE on USA\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GSmJLW4cNpM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A short reign is a short reign. Trick Williams, <strong>Cody Rhodes<\/strong>, and Jey Uso all had a short reign after beating a member of Judgment Day for a title and losing it right after. Trick&#8217;s win and immediate loss <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2023\/07\/05\/carmelo-hayes-vs-trick-williams-for-the-nxt-title\/\" target=\"_self\">added nothing<\/a> to his character that a win over somebody like <strong>Dijak<\/strong> or even Finn Balor himself couldn&#8217;t have done. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cody and Jey Uso probably did need to win the titles, but the loss coming in just nine days after fans invested heavily in the fun duo was bizarre. With a PLE coming up soon, that would have made more sense as the venue for <strong>Jimmy Uso<\/strong> to strike. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Trying to piece these losses into a larger story doesn&#8217;t change the fact that nobody cares about a short reign. It doesn&#8217;t help the winners or the losers look good. It is a waste of time. What also doesn&#8217;t help is that the quick title grabs and the group&#8217;s overall losses tell competing stories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What is WWE Doing With Judgment Day Splitting Up<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Clearly, WWE is doing a break up the Judgment Day at some point. The writing has been on the wall since the <em><strong>Money in the Bank<\/strong><\/em> Premium Live Event (PLE). With each loss, the group gets closer to the edge. Then, when it seems like Rhea is ready to leave her deadbeat men behind and finally get an actual run, they come together again. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The team fights constantly, loses the big matches for the moment of maximum tension, and then nothing. Not even days later, the group gets another shot and resets the board. The status remains, and we all got some admittedly good wrestling matches along the way. Just as the short reigns don&#8217;t add anything to their opponents, they don&#8217;t add anything to Judgment Day either.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Judgment Day regroup: Raw highlights, Oct. 9, 2023\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ji3ndVEqyPU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There must be a rationale for what WWE is doing with Judgment Day. They are trying to display the team as fracturing but also as strong. Those can&#8217;t happen at the same time. Either the group is crumbling, or they stand on top of WWE and hold all the gold. Some of this might be the fault of the Bloodline. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">When that story paused, they needed another supervillainous group to run the shows, and they found it with Judgment Day. Perhaps the dysfunction is the point, and the strength is a byproduct of vacation time. However, it is hard to tell because the company jumps back and forth. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Sure, fans can safely boo the faction. That means fans won&#8217;t be prepared when the day comes for their story to unfold. That lack of preparation could hurt the response, which would be a shame given how popular the group is now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Does it Impact The WWE Product at All?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">To answer what WWE is doing with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2022\/12\/21\/judgment-day-wwe-resurrection\/\" target=\"_self\">Judgment Day<\/a> is impossible. Maybe they are killing time or genuinely think this is what fans want to see. The more important question for fans and the promotion should be, does it matter? The answer to that is no. The booking curiosities go beyond these two title changes. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><strong>Rhea Ripley<\/strong> has been underutilized at best. Likewise, <strong>JD McDonagh<\/strong> is either in the group or not, depending on which brand the faction appears on. <strong>Dominik Mysterio<\/strong> is a main event-level heel, except when he is the fall guy. The booking of the group is full of contradictions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\">DOUBLE DOUBLE <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jK6XcZevLP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/jK6XcZevLP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Finn B\u00e1lor (@FinnBalor) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FinnBalor\/status\/1714232067960004852?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 17, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Despite all of this, they are super over. The faction is on par with the Bloodline in kayfabe and is teaming up with Roman and Heyman, too. The inconsistency has yet to matter because everyone involved is good at what they do. Sure, the booking may help their opponents less than WWE thinks it will. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Strange booking decisions aren&#8217;t a huge issue as long as Judgment Day stays a draw, and their opponents do, too. The risks are certainly greater that, with confusing booking, crowds will turn. However, no specific booking is necessary as long as WWE can use them to get the crowd excited, and right now, they absolutely can. How long that remains the case, though, is anyone&#8217;s guess.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/h3>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/span><\/em><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the\u00a0<\/span><\/em><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/watch.wwe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">WWE Network<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><\/em><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Peacock<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WWE Monday Night Raw saw a surprise title change, with Finn Balor and Damian Priest capturing WWE&#8217;s Unified Tag Team Titles. The moment fits into a larger pattern and has left many on social media wondering, what is WWE doing with Judgment Day? The title change occurred just over a week after Judgment Day lost [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4470,"featured_media":120815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2192,4,3],"tags":[6558,6530,111,3041,8611],"class_list":["post-120789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-north-america","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-damian-priest","tag-dominik-mysterio","tag-finn-balor","tag-rhea-ripley","tag-the-judgment-day"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4470"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}