Edge Admits He Created Judgment Day To Get Beth Phoenix And Rhea Ripley In The Ring

The Judgment Day was formed by Edge at WrestleMania 38, as he and Damian Priest were the first two members, followed by Rhea Ripley and lastly Finn Balor. Despite the trio turning on Edge, his primary mission for the group — to help elevate underutilized stars within WWE — has been successful, as all three, plus newest member Dominik Mysterio, have reached a more prominent position. However, according to Edge, elevating younger stars was not his only motivation when deciding to put the faction together.

"I kind of engineered this thing to get Rhea and Beth Phoenix to face as many times in the ring as I could," Edge said appearing on "WWE After the Bell." "One of the women that influenced Rhea and showed her that she could do this was Beth, and I knew that Beth didn't get the opportunity because the opportunities weren't here for the female division to have those moments when she was wrestling ... It's so special to watch Beth get these moments now because she deserves them."

Since the feud between Edge and The Judgment Day began, Phoenix and Ripley have only wrestled each other once, with their mixed tag team match at Elimination Chamber seeing Edge and Phoenix defeat Ripley and Balor. Outside of that, the two women have gotten physical on multiple occasions, including Extreme Rules, when Ripley nailed Phoenix with a Conchairto following Balor's victory over Edge in an I Quit match. Phoenix and Ripley have yet to have a singles match in WWE, however, with Ripley potentially winning the "WWE SmackDown" Women's Championship at WrestleMania 39, Phoenix could be a natural choice to challenge her for the gold.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "WWE After the Bell" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.