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With Rhea Ripley joining Edge's faction at WrestleMania Backlash, complete with an even darker look, it is safe to say that Judgement Day is the talk of the town right now. Keeping the comparisons with House of Black aside, the group has tremendous upside. Two upstarts like Ripley and Priest, who have the potential to be main event stars in the future, are joined by a legendary veteran in Edge.
On paper, things look very bright and this could be WWE's best faction since The Shield, which produced three future world champions. The execution has to be right though. So how should Judgement Day be booked?
Judgement Day Has To Be Dominant And Cannot Be Booked Like Cowardly Heels
It is safe to say that the group will be playing the roles of heels for the foreseeable future. They have one of the greatest of all time in the form of Edge to lead in that direction. It will be very important though that they are booked right even as heels.
Heels do have to be cheats by nature. Otherwise, what's the difference between them and babyfaces? But Edge, Ripley, and Priest cannot be booked like the cowardly heel characters that WWE has mostly relied on in recent years.
They have a dark gimmick and the presentation has to go with that. They cannot be found running away from opponents at the first opportunity or cheating at every turn. The group members have to be dominant and only resort to underhand tactics against only top-level babyfaces.
The Focus Has To Be On Rhea Ripley And Damian Priest
During their time in NXT, Ripley and Priest were two of the most highly-rated performers on the roster and earmarked for major success on the main roster. To be fair, they have attained some level of success since moving up as well.
Priest has been mostly used as an upper mid-carder and held on to the United States Championship for over six months. But that run did not do much to elevate him up to the main event picture.
On the other hand, Ripley has the potential to be the face of the women's division for the next decade or so. She is still just 25 years of age and has already been a world champion. While the Australian has been booked strongly since her move up from NXT as well, the feeling is that she has slipped down the card rather than gone up. For the past several months, she had been featuring in tag teams, with the likes of Nikki ASH and Liv Morgan.
Ripley has a genuine connection with the WWE fans though and looks like an action movie star in the making. Keeping that in mind, her character definitely needed a boost after growing stagnant for quite some time.
Thus, the main focus of Judgement Day has to be on getting the likes of Ripley and Priest over and turning them into main event level stars.
RELATED: 10 Backstage Stories About Rhea Ripley We Can't Believe
Make Sure That The Faction Does Not Expand Too Much
Edge has already hinted that there are going to be more additions to Judgement Day. The latest rumors suggest that Ciampa could be the next person to join the group.
Like Ripley and Priest, he could end up being a good fit as well. At the same time though, the WWE must make sure that too many members do not end up joining the faction. If you try to make too many stars at the same time, you do not make any stars at all.
Ripley has superstar written all over her and can be a main event player in the women's division for years to come. Priest is 39 years of age but could still have a few world title runs left in him if he can get to that level. Ciampa, if he does join as the rumors have suggested, could be the workhorse of the group.
RELATED: 10 Pictures Of Edge Like You've Never Seen Him
Where Does Edge Fit Into All Of This?
Edge is 48 years of age and has a history of injuries. It is very much possible that this is his last long-term program. If that does end up being the case, it would be fitting, as he got his first big break in the WWE as a member of The Brood, a similar dark gimmick from the late 1990s.
If Judgement Day is able to do for Ripley and Priest, what The Brood did for Edge and Christian, WWE will have some major stars on their hands. On the other hand, for Edge, this might be his chance to get one last run at the top of the company and potentially one final World Championship reign.
