Judgment Rendered: WWE Judgment Day Recap

Judgment Day was upon us. On a night where anything was possible, everything did happen. Unfortunately, that’s both good and bad. Here’s the recap of tonight’s WWE Pay-Per-View. 

John Cena defeats JBL

Fireworks flew high in Omaha as the 10^th Annual WWE Judgment Day kicked off with a rivalry renewed. JBL and John Cena both arrived to the ring in their usual fanfare. If people were expecting a battle of Southpaws, they weren’t going to get it here.

A test of strength started the match, but Cena got suckered with a shot to the midsection and an aggressive arm pull. Things go from bad to worse for Cena as he is a victim of the steel ring posts and some dangerous punches from Layfield. JBL then applies a series of submissions on Cena, but the Doc shows his unbelievable strength by picking up the near 300-pounder several times during the match with the injured arm. 

Cena fights back with a shoulder block and a throwback, but a miscue on the top rope gives control back to Layfield. After breaking out of the body scissors, Cena attempts the FU, but either his ribs or his shoulder give out before he can complete the maneuver.

After countering the first big boot, Cena nails a spinebuster then gets up swinging at the self-proclaimed “Wrestling God.” But JBL cheap shots him again, continues to taunt and punish Cena, and finishes up with a vicious clothesline. While attempting a second clothesline, Cena recovers, lands the FU and picks up the win.

While Cena continues to celebrate up the ramp, the camera pans up to an irate William Regal, who had no problem showing his disdain for the former WWE Champion.

The Dirt Sheet defeats Kane and CM Punk to retain WWE Tag Team Titles

Punk and Miz start the only ECW bout of the night. Punk takes the early advantage with a snap suplex, then tags in Kane to pick up where he left off last week. Multiple tags have everyone on the edge of their seat, but The Sheet grabs the advantage.

Punk recovers with a series of kicks then tags in Kane who hits a turnbuckle clothesline and a sidewalk slam before their adversaries regain control with a chop block to the Big Red Machine.

Miz continues the assault until a big boot brings in Punk and Morrison. Following a knee-dog/clothesline, Punk continues the assault on Morrison while Kane chokeslams Miz outside of the ring. The distraction was enough for the Shaman as he nails The Famer on Punk for the victory.

Shawn Michaels defeats Chris Jericho

As the match gets underway, Jericho begins to go after the “injured” knee of Michaels. Shawn gains the early advantage though with multiple headlocks. Following a series of near falls, HBK catches Y2J with the Lone Star Deathlock, but Jericho reaches the ropes to break the hold. A shove from Jericho and a slap from Michaels start a barrage of punches from Jericho who ends up on the receiving end of a cocky smile from The Showstopper.

An over-the-top rope arm yank shifts momentum to HBK, but a hard whip into the corner sends Michaels outside the ring and back in it holding his back. But Michaels recovers enough to attempt his flying elbow, but Jericho gets the knees up just in time. He then starts to work the newly injured ribs, but miscues his faceplant and ends up tangled in the ropes. He then recovers and locks in the Walls of Jericho, but Michaels reaches the rope.

As the two are dangling outside the ring, Michaels nails Sweet Chin Music, but rather than taking the count out, drags Jericho back into the ring. He sets him up to attempt another elbow drop which connects this time. He then begins to tune up the band, but after two close calls, Jericho shows that he was playing possum and nails him with the Code Breaker. As he picks up Michaels, the Kid locks in the Crossface, but Jericho reaches the ropes to break the hold.

Y2J then attempts the Lionsault after gaining the advantage, but Michaels counters only to get caught in the Walls once more, but counters into a modified Sunset Flip for the pinfall. After the match, both men shake hands and Regal starts to fume once more.

Following the match, Josh Grisham interviews Mickie James about her upcoming match with Beth Phoenix and Melina, only to get interrupted and threatened by an irate JBL.

Mickie James defeats The Glamazon and Melina to retain Women’s Championship

Before the match even gets physical, Beth Phoenix is demanding that Melina get out of the ring—Melina responds by kicking Phoenix out of the ring. Now that the claws are out and flying, Mickie begins to use the animosity of her adversaries to gain an early and late advantage.

Melina quickly takes control but gets sidestepped and dropped by Phoenix. The Glamazon gets dropped momentarily and shows her pure strength with a modified backbreaker on both women—at the same damn time! Holy Cow!

But Melina recovers and sends Phoenix to the outside, then tries to focus on Mickie James. But after a Mickie-T, James left the same way she came in: Women’s Champion.

While Melina and Phoenix seethe over the loss, the cameras catch Batista confronting Shawn Michaels in the back. The Animal promised to deliver on his guarantee to hurt HBK, and said he will decide the time and the place.

Undertaker defeats Edge

In one of the most talked about matches of the night, Edge begins by ducking the Phenom at every turn. Unfortunately for him, the Undertaker catches him and victimizes him with soupbones at every chance. He then focuses on the shoulders of the Ultimate Opportunist and attempts Old School. However, Edge shows why he is known as that as he takes out Taker’s left leg, sending him to the ropes.

Edge then starts focusing on the legs, and just to add insult to injury, attempts Old School. But the Deadman takes a page out of Edge’s book by taking out his left leg. The Phenom then hits a Turnbuckle Chokeslam followed by a Big Boot and Old School. But as he goes for the Tombstone, Kurt Hawkins and Zac Ryder run interference.

The distraction was enough for Edge to remove the padding from turnbuckle, hit the Edgeucutioner and then get nailed with a modified Last Ride. However as Taker is going for Snake Eyes, he gets caught in the exposed turnbuckle, but Edge suffers the wrath of his own deceitful ways as he gets nailed with the same turnbuckle. The Rated R Superstar recovers and hits the Spear, but gets only a two-count.

As Edge continues his punishment, Taker hits the Chokeslam, but he only gets a two-count. This is where the match took a turn for the obscene. The Deadman sends Edge to the outside, and then he sends him into the crowd. As the referee begins his count, both men went towards the ring, but before he could get in, Edge gets yanked off by the Undertaker, who crawls in to beat the count, thereby winning the match and the gold—or so we thought.

Vickie Guerrero comes out to interrupt to a sea of boos and announces that since it was a count out, the championship is still vacant. To show his appreciation to his General Manager, the Deadman Tombstones Edge is in the middle of the ring, much to the chagrin of Edge’s fiancée.

When we all were preparing for the Steel Cage Match between Triple H and Orton, MVP came out to express his frustration for being left off the card for tonight’s show. With that said, he issued an open challenge to anyone in the back, which prompted the arrival of Matt Hardy. But Hardy was not out there to compete. He was out there to introduce MVP’s opponent: Matt’s brother, Jeff.

Jeff Hardy defeats MVP

Right off the bat, MVP goes on the attack with shots to the midsection, but Hardy recovers and sends Porter to the outside. Back in the ring, a miscue gives MVP the advantage as he begins to wear down Hardy’s left arm. A series of devastating blows keeps the high-flyer grounded for most of the match, but as MVP goes for the Playmaker, Hardy counters with a flying Neckbreaker.

Hardy then goes for the Swanton Bomb, but Porter moves out of the way, and goes in for the kill. As he goes for his Corner Boot, Hardy counters and nails the Whisper in the Wind to pick up the victory. Hardy shows that he’s better than MVP tonight, much to the chagrin of an already irate William Regal.

As Sly Stallone’s interview about Rambo concludes, the dangerous 15-foot high cell begins to lower on the awaiting ring.

Triple H defeats Randy Orton to retain WWE Championship

As the bell rings, Randy Orton tries to sneak his way to the still-opened cage door, but Triple H quickly pulls him, only to get nailed with the door. As the match progresses, both men proceed to beat the holy hell out of each other.

The match shifted when Orton slingshotted Triple H into the cage. Orton continues the assault by ramming the back of The Game’s head into the cage followed by a devastating DDT.

The Legend Killer resumes his punishment with closed fists, followed by a snap-slam. But then Orton miscues a knee drop and gets chop blocked a la Ric Flair to his exposed knee. The champion then locks in the Figure Four, but Orton makes it to the ropes. Orton drops The Game and then tries to escape through the door. As he is brought back in, he snags a steel chair from the outside.

The chair becomes a pivotal weapon in the match as both Triple H and Orton vie for possession. As the champion prepares to nail his opponent, Orton low blows him and smacks him across the back with the chair. He then sets it up for an RKO, but gets countered into the cage, followed by a drop toe hold onto the awaiting chair. Following a series of shots, Orton starts to climb the cage, and just when it looked as if he would wear gold again, Triple applies a headlock that brings Orton back into the ring.

Both men lay drained from the match, but Orton recovers quicker and prepares for the punt. But Triple H counters, nails him with the steel chair, and drops him with the Pedigree for the victory.

Judgment was rendered—almost. Expect fireworks this week, especially from SmackDown! See ya tomorrow night on RAW.