The Judgement Day was founded by WWE Hall of Famer Edge in 2022. Originally, the group had a gothic, borderline supernatural theme which felt like a good fit for rising stars Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley.
Finn Balor would eventually push Edge out of the faction, though we'd later learn he wanted to leave because of Vince McMahon's plans to have them fully embrace the supernatural. Thankfully, the disgraced Chairman was pushed out of WWE before that could happen and Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh later joined the group.
With Priest and Ripley's popularity on the rise, it was clear WWE needed to pull the trigger on a babyface turn. The company did so when Balor orchestrated their removal from The Judgement Day, with Carlito and Liv Morgan taking their place.
During a recent interview, Ripley opened up on ending her association with The Judgement Day and admitted it was a hard pill to swallow given what they've achieved together since forming.
"The Judgment Day was really family to me. It really was. It has helped my career so much more than I could actually put into words. That was when I started opening up and feeling comfortable going out there and being in front of the crowd. I had the boys and could fall back on. It was really emotional for me. I saw something come out about Judgment Day members, a specific one crying backstage after everything. I’m not ashamed of it. That was me. I was upset."
"The last two and a half years of my life has changed now. I can’t go back to that. They were my boys and my family. It was really sad. At the same time, when something so good comes to an end, the other side of it is something amazing is about to start as well. I wasn’t really thinking about that because I was so emotional. That was the most fun I’ve had in my career in a long time. I felt invincible. I felt I could go out there and be a cheeky little menace and get away with it, for real, and have fun with my friends."
"I loved my time with the Judgment Day. Now, I’m loving my time absolutely brutalizing the Judgment Day. They are not the real Judgment Day. They are street trash."
At next month's Bad Blood PLE, Ripley will challenge Morgan for the Women's World Championship. Priest is also set to go one-on-one with Balor and, while it's too soon to say where this storyline is heading, it's one fans have definitely embraced.
You can watch the full interview with Ripley in the player below.