YMMV / The Judgment Day

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • On the 1/29/24 RAW, did the Judgment Day really hate R-Truth or were they just trying to let him down gently on why he wasn't joining the team? Take note that when JD decided to kick Truth from behind, despite Priest asking Dominik to do something (presumably tear off Truth's Judgment Day shirt which JD spitefully did), Dominik looks shocked at JD's ruthlessness. Priest, Dom, and Finn also look guilty at having to put Truth down. The following week also has Priest finally give in to letting Truth hang in their clubhouse after he completely missed the point on the beatdown, but by 2/12/24, the four males decide to beat Truth up after JD won their match because they are tired of his antics.
  • Is JD really part of the group or are the original four tolerating him? When JD lost his "Miracle on 34th Street" Street Fight against R-Truth, all but Rhea were happy to see him go before Rhea says that he's still part of the team. Priest even mocks JD on not getting money from Truth's shirt sales by showing off Truth's version of the Judgment Day shirt and stating JD's name isn't on it. That said, when JD finally picks up a win against Truth on 2/12/24, they hug him and give him a nice shoulder pat although it was probably more to rub it in Truth's face.
• Evil Is Cool: The original four are heels and equally badass.
• Fridge Brilliance: Why didn’t Priest cash-in his Money In The Bank contract on the physically broken Seth Rollins at the conclusion of Night 1 of WrestleMania 40? Simple, Priest had already wrestled a gruelling ladder match earlier in the night and cashing in then would mean that he would be the one defending the World Heavyweight Championship against a fresh Drew McIntyre the following night instead of Rollins.
• Funny Moments:
  • After JD McDonagh was officially inducted into the stable, he began wearing a T-shirt that listed the main four members of the Judgment Day with "And JD" added on it like a piece of paper. Funnily enough, R-Truth copied this design, replacing JD's name with his own. Speaking of which, everything about the Judgment Day dealing with R-Truth's antics since late November 2023, like R-Truth trying to butter them up with sweets and a TV.
  • Speaking of the Judgment Day shirt, R-Truth was willing to give Damien Priest his cut of the proceedings, which was enough for Finn, Dominik and JD to stop talking smack on Priest when he showed how much dough Truth was raking. JD immediately went from "let's kick Truth out" to "Where's my cut"?
  • On 3/11/24, one of the things that makes Finn Balor pissed about the WrestleMania XL six tag-team match is that it'll be a Ladder match, stating he has a fear of ladders. What makes this darkly hilarious is this is due to what happened in last year's WrestleMania, when Edge busted him open with a ladder that needed 14 staples to close shut.
  • On the 4/8/24 RAW, Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley proudly show off their championship belts...and are unaware of R-Truth slipping in to show off his RAW Tag Team Championship. When Damian Priest sees Truth in the ring, he immediately screams, "OH HELL NO!" as he does not want to go through Truth's shenanigans any longer.
• Growing the Beard: The group initially got off to a rocky start due its supernatural undertones clashing with the WWE's grounded (albeit somewhat wacky) atmosphere. Even after ousting Edge and replacing him with Finn Bálor, they continued to struggle finding their footing. It wouldn't be until Dominik Mysterio joined the group in September 2022 and they transitioned into essentially a clique of goth bullies that everything finally clicked into place. This happened for all five individuals in the group as well:
  • Priest went from floating upper-midcarder with an odd split-personality gimmick to a deadly serious powerhouse and a World Heavyweight Champion by virtue of his Money In The Bank win.
  • Finn re-established himself as a vicious threat and versatile performer that could be taken seriously at any level of the card.
  • Rhea went from fresh-faced high-upside talent to going over Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 39 and establishing herself as the Big Bad of the women's division.
  • Dominik went from a milquetoast babyface in the shadow of his father and bordering on The Scrappy status to quite possibly the single biggest heat magnet in all of professional wrestling, along with his ring psychology and character work improving exponentially over the course of a year.
  • JD went from a just another barely memorable low-card heel to an entertaining part of the show, becoming the ideal Butt-Monkey for a face opposing the stable to showcase their abilities and also engaging in a hilarious feud with R-Truth.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Finn, Rhea, and Damien happily cheer Dominik on when he wins the NXT North American Championship, even if Dominik got help from Rhea.
  • Despite the bad blood between Priest and Balor after Priest became Mr. Money in the Bank, the two set aside their differences at Payback 2023 to become Undisputed Tag Team Champions. The two even give each other a Man Hug.
  • After weeks of trying to prove his worth to the group, JD McDonagh was officially inducted into The Judgment Day's ranks on the 11/13/23 episode of Raw. What makes this heartwarming is that Damian Priest, the member who has held nothing but contempt for McDonagh since he started associating himself with the group, was the one who welcomed him into the fold after McDonagh took a spear for Priest from Jey Uso. The crowd even cheered when Priest finally welcomed him to the group. Even after he lost to R-Truth in the "Miracle on 34th Street" match, Rhea states that he's still part of the group even though Dom, Priest and Balor were ready to see him off.
  • A moment that happened off-camera, but at the end of Survivor Series 2023, The Judgment Day (having lost the WarGames match) were walking up the aisle when they noticed a fan holding up a sign that said "Rip my sign." The Judgment Day obliged as Finn Bálor grabbed the sign and handed it to JD McDonagh, who then ripped it in half, followed by Finn fist-bumping the fan. This shows that even as heels, they enjoy giving fans an unforgettable experience.
  • As saddening as it is that the Judgment Day decide to beat up on R-Truth, Priest, Finn, and Dominik do praise JD finally getting a victory on 2/12/24 RAW.
  • Priest getting his first World Heavyweight Championship after cashing in his Money In The Bank on Drew McIntyre after winning it against Seth "Freakin" Rollins at WrestleMania XL with a group hug celebrating his win.
  • After Rhea was forced to vacate the Women's World Championship due to getting injured by Liv Morgan, she received a group hug from the guys with Priest vowing that she will get revenge on Liv and will return even more badass than she already is.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The poster for the 2009 Judgment Day pay-per-view has Edge sitting next to a scales of justice. 13 years later, guess the name of the faction he starts.
• Ho Yay:
  • Priest and Balor had bad blood between them after Priest became Mr. Money in the Bank, but reconcile and share a Man Hug at Payback 2023
  • JD McDonagh is clearly crushing on Priest as it takes the latter taking a Spear for the former before he finally becomes part of the Judgment Day. Moreover, thanks to R-Truth, there's now a Love Triangle going on between the three. Truth is always trying to butter up Priest and succeeds, JD is jealous of Truth getting involved in the Judgment Day, and Priest is shown to like Truth more than JD, accepting Truth's suggestion for a "Loser Leaves Judgment Day Miracle on 34th Street Fight", admitting his PSA was hilarious, and fully accepting the money Truth obtained from his side-hustle of Judgment Day shirts. The 1/29/24 RAW has Priest actually giving a formal apology to R-Truth for what happened and has to kick Truth out of the Judgment Day with JD being the one to give the pummeling (when Priest asked for Dom) which can be seen as JD as a jealous lover wanting to kick the goody-two-shoes rival out. Finally, Priest just gives in to Truth being part of the Judgment Day and allows him to crash at their clubhouse.
• Interrupting Meme: By mid-2023, you could almost set your watch to "The Other Side" suddenly blaring across the speakers at about 3 minutes after the hour to cut off the RAW opening promo.
• Love to Hate: The five are absolute scumbags, Dominik and JD especially, but people love them because they are so awesome as Heels.
• Moral Event Horizon: By Extreme Rules 2022 in October, the faction was established as rotten heels, but the amount of heat they had would rise to nuclear levels by the end of the night. During the I Quit Match between Finn Balor and Edge, the latter’s wife Beth Phoenix and best friend Rey Mysterio intervened to negate the Judgment Day’s interference. Rey and Beth were both taken out, and with Edge being held down, Ripley threatened to bash Beth’s head in - with Edge’s own move no less - unless Edge said “I quit”. He did, but Ripley swung the steel chair down anyway (even boasting that Edge "taught them too well"), twisting the knife not once but twice in one move.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Damian Priest being Mr. Money in the Bank started off promising, because no one could deny his potential. However, all throughout 2023 and the beginning of 2024, Priest's booking with the Mr. Money in the Bank had mix reactions at best, mainly due to how the champion at the time, Seth Rollins, was at times incredibly vulnerable, if not downright dead to rights, and would have been easy pickings to cash in, but oddly never chose to, plus his booking had not done him any favors either. By this time, many have already started feeling the concept has grown stale due to lack luster cash ins over the years that, by the time WrestleMania season kicked in, Priest became the butt of many jokes about how dumb of a Mr. Money in the Bank he is and was destine to be a failed cash-in. All that changed as soon as Drew McIntyre arrogance led to him being an easy target at Mania 40 and Priest cashed in successfully to win his first World Heavyweight championship, and being the second ever person to cash-in at the showcase of the immortals as well. Immediately, everyone changed their tunes, admitting to their constant jokes, and Priest would come off every bit of a main event champion he was always thought to have.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: At Crown Jewel ‘23, Damien Priest was an eyelash away from “cashing in” his Money in the Bank contract on a weakened Seth Rollins, only for Sami Zayn to steal the briefcase holding the contract before Priest could steal the World Heavyweight Championship. Two nights later, Sami was ordered to return the case to Raw GM Adam Pearce. They could’ve gotten a little more mileage out of Sami holding the contract hostage.