Judgment Day (2002)

The Undertaker, who challenged Hollywood Hulk Hogan at Judgement Day for the WWE Undisputed Championship

The event consisted of nine professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either faces or heels as they followed a series of events which built tension, culminating in a wrestling match or series of matches.

The main feud leading into Judgment Day on the Raw brand was between the WWE Undisputed Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker. At Backlash, Undertaker defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin and became the No. 1 contender to the championship, which Hogan won the same night by defeating Triple H (after Undertaker interfered). On the April 25 episode of SmackDown!, Undertaker attacked Triple H, prompting Hogan to run and save Triple H. On the April 29 episode of Raw, Hogan tried to attack Undertaker. However, later that night, during Hogan's match with William Regal, Undertaker attacked Hogan with Hogan's weight belt, busting him open. On the May 6 episode of Raw, Hogan stole Undertaker's motorcycle and rode into the ring on it, and then tried to chase Undertaker with the motorcycle (which did not start). Later that night, Hogan destroyed the motorcycle with a truck. On the May 13 episode of Raw, Undertaker attacked Hogan backstage, tied him into Hogan's motorcycle and dragged him all over the backstage area. On the May 16 episode of SmackDown!, as Hogan was cutting a promo, Mr. McMahon confronted Hogan and Hogan attacked McMahon.

The main feud on SmackDown! featured Chris Jericho and Triple H. On the April 25 episode of SmackDown!, Jericho defeated Triple H with The Undertaker's help in order to get a title shot at Hollywood Hulk Hogan's Undisputed WWF Championship on the May 2 episode of SmackDown!. Jericho managed to convince Mr. McMahon to make the match a no disqualification match and to prevent Triple H from hitting Jericho. Jericho taunted Triple H later that night, but during the title match, Undertaker's music hit. However, Undertaker did not come to the ring and Hogan defeated Jericho to retain the championship. On the May 9 episode of SmackDown!, McMahon made Jericho and five other wrestlers (Christian, Hardcore Holly, Lance Storm, Reverend D-Von, and Test) beat on Triple H, while booking Jericho and Triple H in a Hell in a Cell match at Judgment Day. Jericho cost Triple H a match against D-Von, making Triple H attack Jericho as he teamed up with Kurt Angle against Edge and Hogan. After Triple H attacked all four competitors, McMahon then came to the ring and taunted Triple H, allowing Jericho to hit Triple H with the chair again. On the May 16 episode of SmackDown!, Jericho and Angle attacked Triple H and Edge, and defeated them in the main event.

Another main feud from the Raw brand was Stone Cold Steve Austin against Big Show and Ric Flair. At Backlash, Flair refereed the Austin-Undertaker No. 1 contenders match, and counted Austin without seeing he had his foot on the bottom rope. On the April 22 episode of Raw, Flair told Austin that he made a mistake and booked Austin and Bradshaw against the nWo of Scott Hall and X-Pac, but Bradshaw was attacked backstage. Flair put Big Show in the match as a replacement, but Big Show turned on Austin and joined the nWo, blaming Austin for him being left off WrestleMania X8. On the April 29 episode of Raw, while Big Show was revealed as the man who attacked Bradshaw, Flair refereed a tag team match between Hall and X-Pac and the team of Austin and Bradshaw. Austin won, even though X-Pac's foot was on the bottom rope. Flair then booked himself in a six-man tag team match on the May 6 episode of Raw, with Bradshaw and Austin against the nWo. However, Flair turned on Austin and booked himself and Big Show against Austin in a handicap match at Judgment Day. On the May 13 episode of Raw, Austin cost Flair an Undisputed WWE Championship match against Hollywood Hulk Hogan, making Flair booking Bradshaw against Big Show and X-Pac (Hall was legitimately fired the week before) in a handicap match and booking Austin in a lumberjack match against a new nWo member. After the nWo defeated Bradshaw, Flair revealed Booker T as the new nWo member. Despite the entire lumberjacks being heels, Austin defeated Booker, but he was attacked by the nWo and Flair after the match.

Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, a dark match took place in which William Regal defeated D'Lo Brown to retain the WWE European Championship.

With his feud with Triple H now over, Chris Jericho decided to enter the King of the Ring tournament, with the winner to receive a WWE Undisputed Championship match on August 25 at SummerSlam. Jericho was scheduled to compete against Edge in the first round tournament, but Edge forfeited his match to Jericho due to a legitimate shoulder injury. Jericho advanced as far as the semi-finals, losing to Rob Van Dam. On the May 30 episode of SmackDown!, The Undertaker defeated Randy Orton to retain the WWE Undisputed Championship. Afterward, Triple H assaulted Undertaker and demanded a title shot. During Triple H's match against Test, Undertaker interfered, enabling Test to nail Triple H with a big boot for the pin. Afterwards, Undertaker nailed Triple H with multiple chair shots to his elbow. On the June 6 episode of SmackDown!, Triple H became the No. 1 contender to the WWE Undisputed Championship by defeating Hollywood Hulk Hogan. Triple H faced Undertaker for the championship at King of the Ring, only to lose despite interference on his behalf from a returning The Rock.

Kurt Angle and Edge continued to feud for a few weeks after Judgment Day, and Edge was later joined by Hollywood Hulk Hogan on the May 30 episode of SmackDown!. On that episode, while Hogan had a stare down with the SmackDown! Owner Mr. McMahon, Angle attacked Hogan with a steel pipe. Later that night, Hogan interfered in a steel cage match between Angle and Edge by assaulting Angle. Moments later, Edge hit a spear on Angle from the top rope and won the match. In the process, Edge legitimately injured his arm and would be forced out of action for a month. The centerpiece of this feud was a hairpiece Angle was wearing after being shaven bald, which he held to his head with a piece of amateur wrestling headgear. On the June 13 episode of SmackDown!, Angle and The Undertaker were scheduled to wrestle Hogan and Triple H, but Undertaker and Angle assaulted Hogan before the match started. After Angle and Undertaker defeated Triple H by disqualification, Hogan went after Angle and eventually stripped Angle's wig from his head, which led to a match between the two at King of the Ring. At King of the Ring, Angle defeated Hogan by submission.

Brock Lesnar ended his feud with The Hardy Boyz and entered the King of the Ring tournament. On Raw, Lesnar defeated Bubba Ray Dudley in the first round tournament, then the following week he defeated Booker T in the quarter finals. At the King of the Ring event, he defeated Test in the semifinals then went on to defeat Rob Van Dam in the finals, which earned him the SummerSlam title shot against the WWE Undisputed Champion.

After Judgment Day, Stone Cold Steve Austin continued his feud with Ric Flair, which added both Eddie Guerrero and a returning-from-injury Chris Benoit (who was last seen in June 2001 at King of the Ring due to neck injury). However, the feud ended abruptly with Austin's unexpected departure from the company on June 3 for his refusal to lose a hotshotted match to Brock Lesnar. That same night, Flair lost his half of the WWE ownership to Mr. McMahon and returned to active wrestling. Austin would return in 2003 and he would face The Rock at WrestleMania XIX in a losing effort, which would turn out to be Austin's last match before retiring from wrestling on medical grounds.

Eddie Guerrero's feud with Rob Van Dam ended on the May 27 episode of Raw, when he lost the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match. Two weeks later on Raw, he lost to Van Dam again in the King of the Ring first round tournament. He went on to face Ric Flair at King of the Ring in place of Stone Cold Steve Austin and lost the match after interference from Bubba Ray Dudley, with whom Guerrero entered a feud the following night on Raw. After pinning Bubba Ray, Guerrero had the table set up, only for Bubba Ray to put him through it. Chris Benoit then applied the Crippler Crossface on Bubba Ray. The following week on Raw, Benoit and Guerrero fought Bubba Ray and Spike Dudley in a tag team match, which Bubba Ray and Spike won. Afterwards, as Spike tried to execute the Dudley Dog on Benoit, the latter countered it and tossed him through a table. Benoit then applied the Crippler Crossface on Bubba Ray while Guerrero frog splashed Bubba Ray from behind. The following two weeks on Raw, Benoit and Guerrero had defeated Bubba Ray and Spike in two different tag team matches. Then on July 21 at Vengeance, Bubba Ray and Spike defeated Benoit and Guerrero in a tag team elimination tables match when Bubba Ray last eliminated Benoit following a Bubba Bomb. On the July 29 episode of Raw, after Benoit defeated Van Dam for the Intercontinental Championship, he and Guerrero would then defect to the SmackDown! brand during a storyline "open season" on wrestler contracts, with Benoit taking his newly won Intercontinental Championship with him. Van Dam defeated Benoit for the title on August 25 at SummerSlam and returned the title to the Raw brand.

Trish Stratus concluded her feud with Stacy Keibler after defeating Keibler in the bra and panties match on the May 25 episode of Velocity. She was then challenged by a returning Molly Holly, who returned with a drastic attitude change and new look. Holly's return took place on April 1, when she attacked Stratus. On the June 3 episode of Raw, Stratus successfully defended the WWE Women's Championship against Terri Runnels in a lingerie match. Holly then appeared to the ring with brass knuckles only for Stratus to nail her in the head with the title belt then took her undergarments off and threw them in Holly's face. The following week on Raw, after Holly defeated Stratus in a non-title match, she took Stratus's undergarments and choked her out with it. At King of the Ring, Stratus lost the match and the title to Holly after Holly executed a belly to belly suplex and pinned her with a handful of tights for leverage.

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