match with AJ Styles at WrestleMania 38, the former ultimate opportunist innovated his character once again, turning heel and embracing sadism.
At WrestleMania 38, popular midcarder Damien Priest turned heel and ed Edge, shortly followed by former women's champion Rhea Ripley. The three wrestlers formed a stable called Judgment Day, with Edge serving as the grizzled mentor to Priest and Ripley and setting out to help the two young talents reach their full potential in WWE. Despite their somewhat clunky name, Judgment Day has been an entertaining part of WWE programming for a time now, and many looked forward to what they might accomplish.
That was until Monday's Raw, which saw WWE's many hours of Raw and SmackDown programming. Instead, what could have been a long-term creative asset was simply thrown away in favor of shock value.
To make the situation even more of a missed opportunity, reports now say that Edge being turfed from Judgment Day represents a face turn for the decorated WWE legend. While Edge is respected enough that WWE fans will be happy to cheer for his exploits again, Edge has spent the last several months cultivating an excellent heel character, and now all that development is effectively down the drain. While the recent pectoral injury to top-level face Cody Rhodes may have played into WWE wanting to make Edge a good guy again, it is still a creative setback for Edge's overall character.
Additionally, the Judgment Day stable is instantly weaker with a line-up of Balor, Ripley, and Priest than it was with Edge at the helm. Edge is a generational talent, capable of dazzling on the mic and putting on classics in the ring. Ripley and Priest, while talented, are far from great talkers and are still likely years away from their peaks as in-ring performers. Balor is a terrific wrestler and a decorated veteran, but he's also decent at best on the mic, leaving Judgment Day without a charismatic leader at the helm. There's definitely a chance that the story of Edge taking down his old group could still lead to great matches and moments at events like Money in the Bank, but they are still at the expense of telling a more complex, logically paced WWE tale.