The Judgment Day are officially pulling double-duty, with the powerhouse faction making their presence felt on “WWE Smackdown” on Friday night — and they continued their momentum despite the noted absence of Rhea Ripley. With the leader of the dominant group defending her championship at Superstar Spectacle in India, the boys had to stand up and fly their flag on the blue brand, keeping the ball rolling after a successful performance at WWE Payback last weekend.

Despite a hilarious slip-up by announcer Mike Rome, the trio of Damian Priest, Finn Balor, and Dominik Mysterio remained as over as ever, with the latter receiving his usual vitriol from the fans in attendance at the famous TD Garden. The newly-crowned tag team champions, Balor and Priest, would emerge victorious against The Brawling Brutes in a surprisingly back-and-forth bout, cementing themselves as a credible threat on “SmackDown” right off the bat.

But just as The Judgment Day were celebrating their latest triumph, the powerhouse pairing of Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits made their way down to the ring to confront them. Lashley would claim his new associates were coming for the gold, before going nose-to-nose with Mr. Money in the Bank, leading to an air of excitement from the Boston audience at the potential of the two factions coming to blows. After a directionless period for Lashley, Montez Ford, and Angelo Dawkins, a long-term program with one of WWE’s hottest acts should be the shot in the arm “SmackDown” requires to make up for Roman Reigns being on an indefinite break.

While their work on “Raw” over the past few months has been strong, the constant Judgment Day tussles with the likes of Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and *insert top singles babyface here* was beginning to wear out its welcome and become far too predictable. Their introduction as a force to be reckoned with on “SmackDown” and putting them in the ring with some fresh faces will only continue their growth within the company, while the shots from Priest at Reigns and The Bloodline will keep the intrigue surrounding a potential cash-in at the front of fan’s minds in the coming months (though it remains to be seen where WWE is going with the cryptic and somewhat confusing ending of “SmackDown” this week).