The Judgment Day implosion is finally upon us on WWE Raw

The Judgment Day has been the most important faction in WWE recently but its time atop WWE Raw has finally hit its downward spiral.

Throughout much of the year, the rise of The Judgment Day was the most important story happening in the WWE. Their establishment and dominance was an angle that went from eye-rolling, to vital across all the shows. The group successfully captured almost all the gold and even surpassed The Bloodline in the eyes of many. Unfortunately, that time is over as the impending blowup seems closer and closer each week.

There are several layers worth noting to this story as it slowly begins to crumble. The group captured title after title, and Rhea Ripley emerged as the de facto leader, even when that word wasn’t used to describe her position in the faction. And those two points will be the basis for their breakdown.

Dominick Mysterio dropped the WWE NXT United States Championship to Dragon Lee at NXT Deadline. While many questioned his purpose of being the champion, he was put in a position to put over someone big when the time came. Wes Lee’s unfortunate injury opened the door for Dragon Lee to be that guy. It was a big win for Lee, as WWE continues to establish him as a superstar to watch for the future.

The December 11 episode of WWE Raw set the tone for the Judgment Day split, and it was oddly R-Truth that continues to push the story forward. If Damian Priest is the “leader” while Ripley isn’t around, someone has to pay the cost for The Judgment Day losing group. Mysterio is without a championship and there’s a big chance The Creed Brothers will defeat Priest and Finn Balor during the next episode of the show. If they leave that week with one less championship around their waist, the blame will continue to fall on Priest’s shoulders.

But they will still have the trump card that is the Money in the Bank briefcase. That is the case, but how many times will Priest fail to cash in on the championship? Heading into WrestleMania season and beyond, it is hard to see where Priest fits into the title picture with names like CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Cody Rhodes firmly established as higher on the ladder. In fact, if Rhodes is going to get back to Roman Reigns and challenge for the Undisputed Championship using the MITB briefcase to get there would be a great way to further his angle, get him onto WWE SmackDown, and further the divide between The Judgment Day.

Watching The Judgment Day turn around as a story that fans are enjoying has been one of the best things to watch in WWE’s creative shift. Just as with any other great group in professional wrestling, the time has come for them to fall apart and it is going to be a glorious implosion to watch.