World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest made a surprise appearance after this week’s episode of SmackDown from Vystar Veterans Memorial in Jacksonville, FL went off air.

The Judgement Day star was there to compete in a dark match. He successfully defended his title in the bout against fellow Raw star Kofi Kingston.

These two weren’t the only Raw stars stopping by as the rest of the Judgement Day were also in the building and ready to compete.

Though unlike Priest, the duo of Finn Balor and JD McDonagh found themselves on the losing side when they challenged Awesome Truth for the tag team titles.

What Happened On SmackDown

Elsewhere on the show, the Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and the United States Champion Logan Paul made their match official for the upcoming King and Queen of The Ring PPV in Saudi Arabia.

The YouTube star, however, backed out of the originally agreed terms and decided that he didn’t want to defend his title against the American Nightmare after all.

Paul tore down the old contract and introduced a new draft made by his lawyer which was for Cody’s title only. After some back and forth, the former AEW star signed the new contract making the match between them official.

We also saw the King and Queen of The Ring tournament continuing on SmackDown. You can check out the results of the tournament matches contested on the show here.

The newly formed tag team of Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate is on the rise in WWE. Dunne and Bate joined forces on the main roster last month and quickly became tag team title contenders. Ahead of their championship opportunity at WWE Elimination Chamber on February 24, WWE has filed a trademark for their official tag team name. 

Dunne and Bate will go by the tag team name New Catch Republic moving forward. The trademark for the same was registered on February 18, 

Bate initially revealed the name on the February 16 episode of WWE Friday Night Smackdown. In a backstage interview with Kayla Braxton, Dunne and Bate spoke about their match against The Judgement Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest) for the WWE Raw and Smackdown Tag Team Championship at WWE Elimination Chamber. After the ‘Bruiserweight’ shared the team’s goal of winning the titles, Bate introduced the New Catch Republic, to which Dunne nodded his approval. 

Afterward, Dominick Mysterio interrupted their interview to set up a tag team match alongside JD McDonagh against the New Catch Republic. The match will occur on a taped WWE Friday Night Smackdown episode on February 23. WWE’s decision to have the match is a way to build momentum for the newly formed tag team ahead of their bout against Balor and Priest. 

More On The Judgement Day vs. New Catch Republic At WWE Elimination Chamber

The upcoming premium live event presents an excellent opportunity for the New Catch Republic to showcase their skills against the tag team champions. Since becoming a team, Dunne and Bate have impressed WWE fans and added a new level of interest in the tag division. 

That said, Balor and Priest are seemingly the favorites to retain their titles at WWE Elimination Chamber. Although the tag titles are set to be defended this Saturday, the company seems to already be teasing R-Truth and The Miz as possible future challengers for Balor and Priest.

The Judgement Day has held the tag championship since the October 16 WWE Monday Night Raw episode last year. Since then, they have only defended their belts four times but have looked dominant everytime they have put the titles on the line. 

The new Catch Republic vs. The Judgement Day still has the potential to be one of the best matches at the upcoming premium live event. While they may not win, an excellent showing for Dunne and Bate could garner more fan attention and make WWE consider featuring them more on TV. 

WWE star Finn Balor is apparently planning to make new additions to The Judgement Day faction.

The Judgment Day faction comprises of Rhea Ripley, Dominik Mysterio, Damian Priest and Finn Balor since last September and they have been one of the mainstays in the programming.

Since Mysterio joined the group, the sinister stable has rarely shown any signs of bringing in additional members. Balor recently discussed the idea of adding more members during the latest edition of WWE’s ‘The Bump.’ It seems that the fans might witness some fresh faces in Balor’s dark stable after the WrestleMania 39 Premium Live Event.

Finn Balor could be expanding The Judgement Day

“We are always planning,” he said.” “The Judgment Day are always planning; we’re always plotting, we’re always scheming. I’m always texting with Damian, we have a group chat with me, Damian, Rhea, Dom. We’re plotting, we’re figuring things out. And trust me, once we get ‘Mania behind us, The Judgment Day will be expanding.”

The Judgement Day was originally created by the WWE Hall of Famer Edge when he portrayed a darker gimmick. He then recruited Damien Priest and Rhea Ripley in order to elevate their position on the roster. However, Edge’s idea backfired when he added Finn Balor to the group. Priest and Ripley turned on ‘The Rated-R Superstar’ ousting him from the group. The latest addition to the heel faction was Dominik Mysterio. He had joined the group after brutally attacking his father Rey Mysterio and Edge.

Finn Balor recently challenged Edge to a match at WrestleMania 39. We are yet to hear what ‘The Rated-R Superstar’ has to say regarding it.

We will have to wait and see what Finn Balor has in store for the fans.