Forecasting The Judgment Day's Future in WWE amid Inconsistent Booking

Extreme Rules on Saturday will be a pivotal point for The Judgment Day, who have had a roller-coaster run on WWE Raw these past six months.

From starting out strong with Edge at the helm to losing whenever it matters most once Finn Bálor took the reins, the group's booking has been questionable, to say the least. They have yet to reach "damaged goods" territory, but they may not be too far off it.

The Prince will take on Edge in an "I Quit" match at Extreme Rules, and although nothing is officially at stake, The Judgment Day have a lot more to lose than The Rated-R Superstar in this scenario. Their entire trajectory going forward depends on the outcome.

Regardless of the result, though, fans will be left to wonder where the sinister stables goes after Saturday. They recently recruited Dominik Mysterio to their ranks, but beyond feuding with Rey Mysterio and AJ Styles, they haven't established much of an identity for themselves.

In an attempt to forecast The Judgment Day's cloudy future amid their inconsistent booking, let's look back at where WWE first went wrong with them and how they can find redemption.

Rumors of a new heel faction led by Edge started making the rounds over WrestleMania 38 weekend, and at the time, fans had high hopes it could breathe new life into the careers of two underutilized Raw talents in particular: Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley.

Priest aided Edge to victory against AJ Styles at The Show of Shows, and Ripley joined one month later at WrestleMania Backlash. The three were an unstoppable unit, had an awesome entrance and solidified their superiority with a win over Styles, Bálor and Liv Morgan at Hell in a Cell.

All of a sudden, WWE decided to flip the script with the faction by booting Edge and putting a newly turned Bálor in his place.

As unexpected as it was, it made zero sense from a storyline standpoint and hindered any momentum The Judgement Day had because the Irishman wasn't nearly as established as The Rated-R Superstar.

Of course, Edge is a natural babyface at this point due to how beloved he is, but the execution of the angle was poor and it took many months for the group members to find their footing again.

Thankfully, they have steered clear of any supernatural silliness, but it wasn't until recently that they were finally positioned as an important act on Raw.

In order to ensure The Judgment Day remain relevant post-Extreme Rules, it's imperative that Bálor reigns supreme over Edge in their upcoming "I Quit" match.

Within the context of the storyline, it would be logical for Edge to overcome the group that kicked him to the curb, but the biggest issue with their inconsistent booking up to this point is how he has gotten the better of them at almost every turn.

At SummerSlam, he returned and cost them their match against The Mysterios. Then, following his Raw main event win over Priest, he and Rey Mysterio bested Bálor and Priest in tag team action at Clash at the Castle.

Granted, Dominik Mysterio turning heel was what had everyone talking that night, but that doesn't change how The Judgment Day have lost all of their high-profile matches since Bálor replaced Edge as the leader.

Another loss for the Irishman at Extreme Rules will cement their status as losers, and there won't be much more they can do to shake that reputation. As someone who hasn't lost a single match in over a year, Edge gains nothing from beating Bálor.

A win on Saturday, no matter how it happens, will be the first step in rehabbing The Judgment Day as a legitimate threat.

As strange as it is to say, The Judgment Day would be worse off without Dominik Mysterio in their ranks right now.

That isn't to say he's a game-changer by any means, as he isn't who the group should or will be built around. Rather, his heel turn at Clash at the Castle was what the faction needed to avoid all the attention being on their latest loss.

Bálor, Priest and specifically Ripley can do a majority of the talking for him, but he's already proved to be more comfortable on the mic now than he was previously. All roads will lead to him finally facing off with his father, Rey, one-on-one.

Once that rivalry runs its course (and to keep it going through WrestleMania 39 is a risk with the event not being for another six months), where will Dominik go from there and how will it benefit The Judgment Day?

The bizarre dynamic Dominik has with Ripley at the moment can only go on for so long until it's forced to evolve, and what that next step looks like is unknown. Until he improves in virtually all areas, the 25-year-old won't be much of an asset to the Raw roster other than continuing to serve as The Judgment Day's lead lackey.

Rey and Dominik reuniting by the end of the angle, at least in some capacity, may be the way to go. Either way, WWE should be thinking long-term with Dominik because he doesn't bring a whole lot of value to the stable otherwise.

WWE seemingly losing all interest in prominently pushing The Judgment Day soon after Ripley suffered an injury in June and had to miss a month of television time was painfully apparent.

Bálor was originally positioned as the leader, but without Edge involved, Ripley was the next-best choice to take the reins. She was the one with the presence and the aura that helped her stand out, and without her around, what was left of the group floundered.

Of course, the Irishman has done some of his strongest work as a heel, but truth be told, Ripley is a fresher face on the main roster and has been booked better on the whole since her debut. She's basically the person pulling the strings at this point, as seen in her ongoing angle with Dominik.

This isn't a Shield situation where they come off as equals; Ripley is far and away the biggest star of the four right now. If nothing else, The Judgment Day should be a vehicle to get her more over in the long run.

Her leadership has been implied but not outright acknowledged. She's the glue that keeps the stable together and makes it work, so building it around her from here on is paramount.

From the get-go, The Judgment Day haven't had a clear set of goals on Raw and that has arguably hurt them more than anything. That takes away any incentive for fans to invest in and want to care about them.

Their biggest (and only) rivals in the past six months have been AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio and Edge. Oddly, they're still feuding with all three of those individuals to this day, and nothing has changed all that much.

Those babyfaces want to end the group's reign of terror, but they aren't exactly dominating Raw when they don't hold any of the gold.

The closest they came to contending for a title was when Rhea Ripely became the No. 1 contender to the Raw Women's Championship in June. Unfortunately, she suffered an injury and never received her rightful shot.

It's worth noting that the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship are currently on lock by The Bloodline, but it's nonsensical that Bálor and Priest wouldn't want anything to do with the United States title considering they both held it earlier this year.

Coming out of Extreme Rules, The Judgment Day must make their intentions known or risk falling further than they already have.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.