The Post’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the world of professional wrestling in his weekly column, the Post Match Angle.
The Judgment Day is heading toward a creative crossroads in WWE and possibly the end of it as we know it.
The faction has enjoyed a mostly dominant run since Rhea Ripley, Damian Priest and Finn Balor jettisoned its creator Edge a little more than two years ago.
Ripley has become one of the biggest stars in the company, Priest won his first world title and Balor has been a multi-time tag team champion during the run.
But the group’s stability now faces attacks and potential cracks from all fronts – including possibly from within after this week’s “Monday Night Raw.” It feels like wishful thinking for WWE to let them get through all of those challenges unscathed.
The most obvious is Priest agreed that if he loses his World Heavyweight championship to Seth Rollins at Money in the Bank he has to leave Judgment Day – a group he said needs him more than he needs them.
Liv Morgan appears to be launching a multi-pronged attack on the group with Ripley away injured, trying to lure Dominik Mysterio away from Mami with sexy texts, a PS5 and chicken nuggets while trying to win over the rest by helping Balor and JD McDonagh win the World tag team championships.
Priest, who has taken over leadership duties with Ripley gone and may not want to concede them back when she returns, is the only one who appears to see right through Morgan.
Balor could be a snake from within as he was seen swiping Morgan’s hotel key and possibly had a secret meeting with her in the Judgment Day locker room.
Maybe Ripley returns and makes everything right again, but that wouldn’t be fun television.
What if, like the Bloodline, Judgment Day is headed for its own internal war?
You can have Morgan, Balor and McDonagh on one side and Ripley, Priest and Mysterio on the other? Where Carlito fits complicates things, but he feels like a pretty loose member at this point – but I’d set him on Ripley’s side for now.
The Judgment Day’s foundation has never felt more fragile, and WWE may finally be ready to rock it.
WWE saved the best for last when filling out its Solo Sikoa-led Bloodline and left an intriguing dilemma when filling out Cody Rhodes’ and Roman Reigns’ side for the inevitable matches to come.
Best for last
Jacob Fatu, the son of Umaga’s and Rikishi’s brother the Tonga Kid, arrived with a bang in WWE on SmackDown last week, helping to decimate Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens – who will face The Bloodline in a six-man tag at Money in the Bank.
Those fans who followed Fatu’s career – especially his record 819-day run as MLW world champion and the leader of the vicious Contra faction – know full well the unique mix of power, intensity and athleticism he possesses.
If you didn’t, you got a taste of it at the end of SmackDown with a big splash from him off the top rope onto Rhodes and the announce table. It also appears he’s gotten himself in even better shape for his WWE chance.
Fatu, 32, has all the attributes to become a star in WWE – though his inability to work outside the United States because of his robbery arrest and incarceration at 18 could put a ceiling on it with the company doing an increased number of international shows. Let’s see if he makes the trip to Canada for Money in the Bank.
Still, you will be able to put Fatu — who could end up outshining Solo Sikoa — across from any main-event talent and have him be a legit threat.
The 10 Count
AEW rightfully is starting to use Will Ospreay as its biggest star. He was in three different segments on Dynamite to plug his current major feud with Swerve Strickland, a future big feud with MJF and his match against Brian Cage on Collision — which was the best on the show.
If Bo Dallas’ VHS promo across from Uncle Howdy is the first true sign of what we are going to get from the Wyatt Sick6, it is going to be an emotional ride. Talking about Bray Wyatt’s death moves things away from being fully supernatural and more about the deep desire in his mind to want to honor his brother’s legacy.
The forgotten part of how cool the camera shot revealing Drew McIntyre’s attack on CM Punk was is that you never saw the actual violence — making fans still needing to see them come to true blows. McIntyre has Punk’s blood on his hand and buys him more time to get medically cleared. Though McIntyre taking Punk’s Larry and AJ bracelet feels like a clear sign he is screwing him a third time at Money in the Bank.
Am I the only one who expected a bigger surprise when Saraya said she didn’t come alone on Dynamite? Happy, however, for Anna Jay, who deserves a more featured role.
Jeff Jarrett likely won’t win this year’s Owen Hart Cup tournament and main-event All In, but man, it will be hard not to root for him to do so after this emotional promo on Collision. Jarrett, who was close with Hart, needs to at least have a special run, maybe a loss in the final.
We are starting to see the next crop of NXT women getting their chance in the spotlight. Lola Vice will face Roxanne Perez for the women’s championship and Sol Ruca squares off with Killani Jordan for the women’s North American championship at Heatwave.
Kazuchika Okada doesn’t say a lot, but I’m finding myself really enjoying the charisma and bits of humor that come across. I can’t wait to hear what he says next and watch his impish selling during matches.
My two big takeaways from the third episode of “Who Killed WCW?” was Bill Busch, who hired Vince Russo, made the fatal mistake Eric Bischoff didn’t of trying to out-WWE the WWE. It was never going to truly work. I also found it very interesting that Russo — whether true or false — believed he would have had a great relationship with Hulk Hogan if Bischoff wasn’t around.
Toni Storm is going to be quite the babyface when Mariah May’s betrayal is complete as she continues to sacrifice for her protege after barely knowing her name when this all started.
Looking forward to seeing what Kayla Braxton does next as there wasn’t much left for her to prove in WWE. Her charisma, preparation and willingness to genuinely react and have fun always made her stand out.
Extra: Danhausen and Paul Walter Hauser in Wrestling Revolver is the wrestling team we never knew we needed.
Extra, Extra: For those interested, Ronda Rousey announced her first graphic novel “Expecting the Unexpected”, launching on July 25 through a special Kickstarter campaign.
Wrestler of the Week
Je’Von Evans, NXT
You can see how much WWE values the 21‐year‐old rising star. Evans won the battle royal to become ally Trick Williams’ next opponent for his NXT championship. Some will say they then undercut him with Ethan Page beating him in the main event last week. You can also see it as a test and trust in Evans to deliver in the spot and add some babyface sympathy to him. He now finds himself in a main event match at Heatwave.
Social Media Post of the Week
Match to Watch
Swerve Strickland (c.) vs. Will Ospreay for the AEW World championship at Forbidden Door (Sunday, 8 p.m., Bleacher Report, Triller)
Forbidden Door has a card full of matches that should be fun to watch from a technical standpoint, but none has a better story going than Strickland vs. Ospreay. The result will likely set up what AEW has planned throughout the summer. Strickland and Ospreay, who are close friends, have delivered must-watch segments as the champ has been trying to mess with his challenger’s focus, and their contrasting styles will make what plays out in the ring fascinating to watch
