WWE Judgment Day 2009: Top 10 Moments from the Final Show of Its Kind

In 2009, the final Judgment Day event was shown live on pay-per-view. To this day, that name has been erased from the company.

With such a great name leaving, you knew the final show had to be exciting! While everybody tried their best, this was simply a good (B-grade) show.

What were the highlights? Let's find out!

10. Morrison vs. Shelton

If one match summed up "bathroom break," this would be it.

John Morrison does nothing for me. As I said since last July, he was leaving. Now, he is a distant memory in 2012.

Shelton Benjamin has had a ton of help trying to "get over." None of them worked in the long run.

From multiple tag title reigns, to defeating Triple H many times, to feuding with Evolution, to having a long Intercontinental title run, to a nice United States title run, to tons of face and heel turns to many different gimmick changes.

Once again, wrestling skills mean very little in this business. At Judgment Day 2009, these two showed exactly why that is.

After I grabbed something to eat and drink and the live crowd woke up from a 10-minute nap, Morrison took the victory.

9. Umaga vs. Punk

Umaga had recently been back in action.

His first real feud on Smackdown was with CM Punk. They had quite a few battles, but this match was actually pretty good.

In an upset, Umaga won.

Punk was the fan favorite (show was in Illinois), and he held the Money in the Bank briefcase. In the end, it didn't matter.

8. ECW Title

Christian returned to WWE a few months earlier.

At Backlash, he beat Jack Swagger for the ECW Championship. They had their rematch at Judgment Day, and it was great.

Swagger was ready to move up the ranks in the company, and Christian needed to get fans back on his side after being gone for three years. Soon, Swagger was on Raw.

Christian won and kept the belt for most of 2009.

7. The Miz Promo

The Miz delivered a fun promo for the live crowd.

He was just coming into his own for the Red Brand. As some may recall, he challenged John Cena to a match many times.

Since Cena was above him, he never came out. In a great heel move, Miz would claim victory each time. The two eventually did have their match, and Cena crushed him.

Most were, laughably, crying "buried!"

As usual, that term does not exist.

Less than two years later, the man who was "buried" held the WWE Title for six months and pinned Cena in the main event of WrestleMania.

6. Rey vs. Jericho

Rey Mysterio battled Chris Jericho at Judgment Day.

Mr. 619 put his Intercontinental title on the line, and it was nice to see these two wrestle once again. They had many great showcases inside the squared circle before.

In 2009, they feuded for a few shows.

Each time, both men delivered. On this night Rey retained his gold.

Wow, Smackdown was loaded in 2009!

5. Cena vs. Show

In 2008, John Cena was in the opener against JBL.

In 2009, he was facing Big Show in a grudge match.

Neither was very exciting. Both resulted in Cena winning.

4. WWE Title Match

Randy Orton was WWE Champion. He had just taken out Triple H and took his title.

His opponent at Judgment Day was Batista. The two had a long history, so you knew the match would have a nice surrounding.

Sadly, the match ended in a disqualification.

It is always a risky move to do that on pay-per-view. It was done here, and Orton kept the gold.

3. Ric Flair Returns

What happened after the match was much more important.

With Orton beating down Batista, Ric Flair returned to the company.

He had been on and off television since retiring at WrestleMania XXIV. This time, he wanted to help put Batista. Of course, Flair could not return to action.

His Raw appearances were kept to a minimum in 2009. WWE wouldn't let him officially wrestle, no matter how much he wanted to.

Less than six months later, Flair was out of WWE and wrestling Hulk Hogan in Australia. By the beginning of 2010, he was at an Orlando sound stage in front of 1,000 non-paying tourists.

To this day, Flair is still there.

2. World Title Topic

Judgment Day 2009 was one of the last shows to close with a World Title match.

It happened nearly all summer (2009) and again at Breaking Point with Undertaker and CM Punk. Another example would be Elimination Chamber 2010.

For one reason or another, WWE does not end pay-per-views events with the World Title contest. Right or wrong, it's an interesting situation.

1. Main Event

Edge defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Jeff Hardy.

Both were major names for the Blue Brand and had many excellent matches. This night belonged to them. They were in the main event and competing for their brand's top title.

For 20 minutes, Hardy and Edge put on a very memorable closing match.

Near the end, Matt Hardy tried to cost his brother title. Their feud was all but over, so this did not make much sense. In an event, his distraction did not do much.

A few minutes later, Edge pinned Jeff after a top rope "Edge-cution." It was about as clean as a victory you will see from a top heel.

Nobody knew it at the time, but Judgment Day was done. It was the end of the world as we knew it...

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