Adam Copeland has expressed his pride in the careers of Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest, reflecting on their origins together in the original incarnation of The Judgment Day.
Copeland, known to WWE fans as Edge, founded the faction in 2022 alongside Priest, Ripley, and Finn Balor, before being ousted from the group and feuding with his former stablemates. Speaking with SHAK Wrestling, Copeland explained that his hope from the beginning was to use the group as a launching pad for the younger talents. Copeland said Vince McMahon didn’t understand what he had in Priest and Ripley.
“Vince said, ‘I want you to start a group and I want it to be like The Brood.’ And I went, ‘Okay, okay.’ So I’m thinking three people and he said, ‘Who would that be?’ I was like, ‘Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley.’ No hesitation. Those are the two people that could make this pretty cool group. He was kind of surprised by that, and that made me realize he didn’t understand what he had in those two, and I thought that was a shame.”
“I truly thought, hey, this can be a vehicle so hopefully they just start getting more reps and some more experience, and I think that’s essentially what it did,” he added.
He noted that his subsequent year-long program against the group, working as a babyface alongside Rey Mysterio, helped solidify them. “I got to be their babyface along with Rey, and when you got two babyfaces like us, chances are your heel group is going to do okay,” Copeland said. “And it’s still going, I think, so it worked.”
For Copeland, watching Ripley blossom into one of WWE’s biggest stars has been especially gratifying. “I’m proud of them, I’m proud of Rhea and where she’s taken it and gone with it, and it’s exactly where I thought it could go,” he said.
Copeland has since moved on to AEW, while The Judgment Day has continued to evolve in the years since his departure.
