Tag: JD McDonagh

JD McDonagh discusses roles he would like to pursue after wrestling retirement

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

JD McDonagh seems to already have his post-retirement plans figured out. 

In an interview with German Suplex Talk, McDonagh addressed potential roles he wishes to pursue once done with wrestling for good. He stated that wrestling was a big part of his growing up and hopes to take on a backstage role as a producer, mentoring new talents or even the possibility of opening a wrestling academy in Ireland. 

“I can’t really picture my life without wrestling. I’ve been doing wrestling since I was 12 years old. So I feel like when the day comes that I can’t get into the ring anymore, and I’m at the level that I’m happy with, and I have to pack it in, I still want to be involved and around wrestling. Whether that’s as a producer, helping new stars put their matches together, I don’t know, maybe I’ll go back to Ireland and open my own gym. You know, the Irish Academy or something like that. I don’t know, I haven’t really thought that far ahead, to be honest with you, I’m solely focused on right now.”

McDonagh was moved to Raw as a part of the 2023 WWE Draft. Shortly after Finn Balor, who mentored him in the early years of his career, persuaded him to join The Judgment Day. When the group imploded in March, McDonagh also attacked Balor signifying his sentiments towards his former mentor. Balor and McDonagh collided in a singles match on Raw last week. While Balor celebrated his win, Dominik Mysterio ambushed and attacked him. 

At WrestleMania 42, McDonagh participated in the six-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Title. 

Finn Balor posts image of busted up lip following WWE Raw match

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Finn Balor faced JD McDonagh in a singles match on the WWE Raw after Mania. During the bout, Balor’s lip was busted up, leaving him bloodied. 

Balor returned to his trimmed beard look and brought back his signature wrestling gear. He shared an Instagram post with a series of images from Raw and revealed the nasty lip trauma suffered during the match which required stitches. He captioned the post ‘We are so back’, referencing the old version of Balor has officially made a WWE comeback. 

At WWE WrestleMania, his Demon persona made an appearance for the first time in three years, and defeated Dominik Mysterio in a Street Fight match.

Balor was kicked out of The Judgment Day in March. There were numerous issues that led to the eventual split. The group’s frustration at his inability to capture the World Championship and refusing to assist Mysterio retain the Intercontinental Title against Penta on the March 2 episode of Raw, were key contributions. 

McDonagh, who was once Balor’s pupil in his wrestling school in Ireland, also turned his back which led to the Raw match. He also competed at WrestleMania 42 in a ladder match for the Intercontinental TItle which Penta retained. 

After Balor’s victory on Raw, Mysterio attacked him from behind indicating that their rivalry is far from over.

Rey Mysterio added to WWE WrestleMania 42 ladder match

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

The five-man ladder match at WrestleMania 42 now has a sixth man: Rey Mysterio.

The announcement was made on Monday Night Raw. After Penta & Dragon Lee & Je’Von Evans teamed up to defeat Los Americanos in a trios match (Evans pinned Bravo with the OG cutter), Mysterio interrupted their celebration.

Going back and forth between English and Spanish, Mysterio congratulated Penta on his Intercontinental Championship reign. He noted that their match at Mania might be one of the best ladder matches in history.

“But last year, I missed WrestleMania due to an injury,” he continued. “This year, I just spoke to Adam Pearce, and we both agreed on one thing: This ladder match at WrestleMania is missing one more person. It’s missing Rey Mysterio.”

Penta welcomed Mysterio to the match, saying “let’s make history” and shouting his catchphrase.

Your updated Mania card after the events of Monday Night Raw:

  • CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship
  • Stephanie Vaquer vs. Liv Morgan for the Women’s World Championship
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton (with Pat McAfee) for the Undisputed WWE Championship
  • Jade Cargill vs. Rhea Ripley for the WWE Women’s Championship
  • Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar
  • AJ Lee vs. Becky Lynch for the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship
  • Sami Zayn vs. Trick Williams for the WWE United States Championship
  • Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre in an unsanctioned match
  • Finn Bálor vs. Dominik Mysterio
  • Penta vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Dragon Lee vs. JD McDonagh vs. Rusev vs. Rey Mysterio in a ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
  • Nia Jax and Lash Legend vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley & Lyra Valkyria vs. Bella Twins in a four-way match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
  • Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
  • LA Knight & The Usos vs. Austin Theory & Logan Paul & IShowSpeed
  • The Vision & iShowSpeed vs. LA Knight & The Usos

WrestleMania 42 takes place on Saturday and Sunday, April 18 and 19, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. It remains to be seen which matches will be on which night.

JD McDonagh explains WWE Raw betrayal of Finn Balor

Posted on by Joseph Currier

JD McDonagh has offered an explanation for why he betrayed Finn Balor on WWE Raw.

On the road to WrestleMania, a big angle played out on Monday night with Judgment Day attacking Balor and kicking him out of the group. It initially appeared like McDonagh was trying to cool the situation between Balor and Dominik Mysterio. But when Balor charged at Mysterio, McDonagh dropped him with a clotheline.

McDonagh sent out an in-character tweet last night blaming Balor’s ego for why tensions had been brewing within Judgment Day. He chose to side with his “family” in Judgment Day over his friend Balor.

“You lied to all of us for months. You got an ego. You wanted to be the leader. You played games,” McDonagh wrote. “That’s never been what the Judgment Day has been about. You used to know that.

“Judgment Day is my family and if anybody dares to try to step on any of them, you get stomped out.”

With both being from Ireland, Balor has legitimately been a long-time mentor to McDonagh. They worked together on-screen with two World Tag Team title reigns during their time in Judgment Day.

Last night’s angle ended with Mysterio, McDonagh, Liv Morgan, and Raquel Rodriguez standing tall after Balor was laid out with a steel chair. It would appear to be setting up Balor vs. Mysterio in some form at WrestleMania 42, though plans for the match have not been officially announced.

JD McDonagh makes return on WWE Raw

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

Three months after his last wrestling match, WWE star JD McDonagh returned to Monday Night Raw, getting involved in the feud between CM Punk and Finn Balor. 

Punk was in the ring cutting a promo when Balor interrupted. As he approached the ring, Balor was soon joined by his Judgment Day stablemates, first Dominik Mysterio, then McDonagh.

The three men entered the ring but let Punk have his say. Punk insulted all three of them, including jokes about McDonagh’s oversized head, then turned his back and dared them to attack him. McDonagh stepped forward, apparently ready to accept Punk’s challenge, but Balor held him back. 

Later, McDonagh confronted Balor backstage, saying they missed a chance to injure Punk before his WWE World Heavyweight Championship defense against Balor at Elimination Chamber. Balor insisted he needed to do this alone. The two Irishmen then went their separate ways in a huff, leaving Mysterio all alone going into his Elimination Chamber qualifying match later on the show. (Mysterio would go on to be pinned by Je’Von Evans in that match, a three-way which also included Gunther.) 

McDonagh’s last match was a loss to Rey Mysterio on Monday Night Raw on November 24, 2025. Shortly after that match, he shared photos online showing that he had undergone wrist and/or hand surgery but would not be gone long. 

WWE teases mystery crate to be opened at Elimination Chamber

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A large crate seems to be the source of a new WWE on-air mystery.

On Monday, Adam Pearce was seen arguing with a deliveryman who had just delivered a large crate with the message “Deliver to WWE, do not open until 2/28/26” written on it, the same day as WWE’s Elimination Chamber PLE. Pearce was upset that the deliveryman had no additional information regarding the box. The segment ended with Pearce directing the deliveryman to send it to Nick Aldis for Friday’s SmackDown so he could deal with it.

This is the second mystery angle WWE is currently running on television. A hooded figure has been seen attacking members of The Vision, a reversal from last year when a person later revealed to be Austin Theory attacked enemies of the group. Monday’s show had the new mystery person lay out Logan Paul with a curb stomp.

Here is the latest lineup for Elimination Chamber:

WWE Elimination Chamber (February 28)

  • World Heavyweight title: CM Punk defends against Finn Balor
  • Women’s Intercontinental title: Becky Lynch defends against AJ Lee
  • Men’s Elimination Chamber: Randy Orton vs. LA Knight vs. Cody Rhodes vs. TBA vs. TBA vs. TBA
  • Women’s Elimination Chamber: Tiffany Stratton vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka vs. TBA vs. TBA

Finn Balor shares post-surgery update on JD McDonagh

Posted on by Joseph Currier

After undergoing surgery, JD McDonagh received a visit from his Judgment Day stablemate Finn Balor.

McDonagh revealed earlier this week that he’d been “working through some stuff” for a few months but was now having it corrected. He posted a photo from the hospital showing his wrist/hand in a cast but did not reveal what the exact issue was. McDonagh added that he would not be out of action long.

Balor then posted an update on McDonagh last night, noting that his tag team partner was doing well and would make a full recovery.

“I just got home this very second from checking on my dear friend @jd_mcdonagh & I can confirm that he is in good spirit’s & will make a full recovery,” Balor wrote.

Balor & McDonagh are multi-time World Tag Team Champions together on WWE Raw. They dropped the titles this October to current champions AJ Styles & Dragon Lee. Both McDonagh and Balor are originally from Ireland — and Balor trained McDonagh and was a mentor to him as he was coming up in pro wrestling.

The most recent matches McDonagh competed in were on the November 21 episode of SmackDown and November 24 edition of Raw, losing against Ilja Dragunov and Rey Mysterio. It was explained on Raw this week that Balor was not at the show because he was visiting McDonagh.

WWE wrestler reveals he’s injured, had been working through ‘some stuff’

Posted on by Ian Carey

JD McDonagh is injured.

The former World Tag Champion posted to his Instagram Stories on Monday with an image of himself in what appears to be a hospital bed, giving a double thumbs-up. He noted that he has been working through ‘some stuff’ recently and added that he won’t be out long.

McDonagh wrote:

“Been working thru some stuff for the last few months, but now is the time to pump the brakes and get put back together. Won’t be long, BRB.”

McDonagh did not reveal details regarding the nature of his injuries, although he also included an image of a hand in a cast. His last match took place on the November 24th episode of WWE Raw, where he lost a singles match to Rey Mysterio.

McDonagh missed nearly three months earlier this year after suffering broken ribs and a punctured lung in a match against the War Raiders on the January 27th episode of Raw. He returned on the Raw after WrestleMania on April 21 and helped his Judgment Day stablemate, Dominik Mysterio, retain the Intercontinental Championship against Penta on the show.

A screenshot of McDonagh’s post on Instagram Stories is below:

Three title matches announced for WWE Raw next week

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has booked a slate of title matches for next week’s episode of Raw.

– After impressing last week with a countout victory over Becky Lynch, Maxxine Dupri will face off against Lynch once again — this time with the Women’s Intercontinental Championship on the line. Dupri did an interview on Raw today thanking the fans for how much they’ve supported her. She called last week the biggest win of her career, then revealed the news that she’s getting a title shot against Lynch in her hometown of Sacramento, California.

– The men’s Intercontinental title will also be defended in a rematch next week with Dominik Mysterio taking on Rusev. In their title match two weeks ago, Dominik cheated by hitting a low blow behind the referee’s back. Dominik then cheated again in his successful defense against Penta today, using the ring bell hammer as a weapon.

– The third championship bout for next week is a World Tag Team title match with AJ Styles & Dragon Lee challenging Finn Balor & JD McDonagh. Dominik accidentally set up the title defense for his Judgment Day stablemates when, in a backstage segment, he complained that he’s the only champion on Raw who has to defend their title every week.

– Along with all that, Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer will be in non-title action against Roxanne Perez.

WWE Raw (Monday, October 20) —

  • Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch defends against Maxxine Dupri
  • Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio defends against Rusev
  • World Tag Team Champions Finn Balor & JD McDonagh defend against AJ Styles & Dragon Lee
  • Non-title match: Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer vs. Roxanne Perez

Judgment Day six-person tag match set for AAA Triplemania

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Finn Balor, JD McDonagh & Raquel Rodriguez of The Judgment Day are heading to Mexico City for a six-person tag match at Triplemania.

WWE posted a Spanish-language promo today setting up that Judgment Day will battle Mr. Iguana, Nino Hamburguesa & Lola Vice at the Saturday, August 16 event. The show is airing live on WWE’s YouTube channel in both English and Spanish.

Triplemania will be a big night for Judgment Day, who also have Dominik Mysterio competing in the main event. That main event is a four-way bout with El Hijo del Vikingo defending the AAA Mega Championship against Dominik, Dragon Lee, and El Grande Americano.

Vice — former MMA fighter Valerie Loureda — competes in NXT and has also regularly been working AAA dates to gain experience. One of her AAA partners here — Mr. Iguana — has made multiple appearances for WWE since his breakout performance at Worlds Collide.

This is the first Triplemania event since WWE announced its acquisition of AAA. An appearance by Rey Mysterio is set for the show, with him inducting Konnan into the Lucha Libre AAA Hall of Fame. It’s also been confirmed that there will be a street fight with Angel & Berto defending the AAA Tag Team titles against Psycho Clown & Pagano.

Finn Balor & JD McDonagh win World Tag Team titles on WWE Raw

Posted on by Bryan Rose

New World Tag Team Champions have been crowned.

Finn Balor and JD McDonagh regained the World Tag Team titles on Raw, defeating The New Day to win the titles for a second time. The finish had Kofi Kingston go for a plancha on the outside, but missed, allowing Balor to hit a slingblade. After McDonagh hit Woods with a moonsault, Balor followed with the coup de grace off the top rope for the win.

After the match Balor, McDonagh, and Dominik Mysterio celebrated their win on the outside, holding their titles as fireworks went off.

Balor & McDonagh won the titles for the first time last year, defeating the Awesome Truth. They lost to the War Raiders on the December 16 edition of Raw, who carried them until WrestleMania 41 when they lost to The New Day.

The Judgment Day has seen some changes in recent weeks with the release of Carlito and the absence of Liv Morgan, who is recovering from shoulder surgery after an injury suffered in the ring earlier this month. He’s invited Roxanne Perez into the group, who has quickly made friends with Raquel Rodriguez and are now recogized as the Women’s Tag Team Champions.

Rusev in-ring return booked for next week’s WWE Raw

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Rusev’s first match back in WWE is set for next week.

During this week’s Raw, it was announced that the former United States Champion will be in action next week, taking on Otis. On the Raw following WrestleMania 41 Rusev made his return to the company, taking out both Akira Tozawa and Otis of Alpha Academy and even put Otis in the accolade.

In a vignette that aired on Monday, Rusev talked about how he had it all at one time, but he had lost himself and left the WWE. On his way home to Bulgaria he fell into the abyss. But in the abyss was where he found and fixed himself. He will take out those wasting their talent and will hunt them, forgive them, then fixed them like he fixed himself.

Another match was announced for next week pitting Penta against JD McDonagh. Penta appeared during a Judgment Day/War Raiders match on Monday and prevented Carlito from interfering. He then dropped McDonagh as he was on the top rope, allowing The War Raiders to get the win.

After he was fined backstage for his interference, Chad Gable mocked Penta and said his favorite part of WrestleMania was seeing Rey Fenix lose to El Grande Americano. Penta attacked him before eventually leaving.

WWE Raw, Monday, May 5 —

  • Rusev vs. Otis
  • JD McDonagh vs. Penta

JD McDonagh returns at WWE Raw after WrestleMania

Posted on by Ethan Renner

JD McDonagh has returned to WWE after an injury-related absence.

McDonagh made his WWE return on Monday’s Raw after WrestleMania in Las Vegas, assisting his Judgment Day stablemate Dominik Mysterio in retaining the Intercontinental Championship.

After winning the title at WrestleMania 41 night two on Sunday, Mysterio had his first title defense on Monday’s Raw against Penta. With the referee distracted, McDonagh interfered to attack Penta, allowing Mysterio to hit a frog splash to retain the IC gold.

McDonagh had been sidelined after suffering broken ribs and a punctured lung in a match on the January 27 Raw where he teamed with Mysterio against The War Raiders. His return comes at a time when storyline tensions within The Judgment Day group are at an all-time high, with the group’s de facto leader Finn Balor on the outs with the rest of the group, and teasing going after Mysterio’s new title.

The Judgment Day’s Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez won back the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles earlier on Monday’s Raw, defeating Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria in a rematch from Sunday’s WrestleMania 41 card. Lynch subsequently turned heel on Valkyria.

Our coverage of the Raw after WrestleMania is available here.

JD McDonagh provides injury update, timetable on potential WWE return

Posted on by Josh Nason

JD McDonagh is on the road to recovery after suffering a punctured lung and broken ribs in a late-January WWE Raw tag team match.

McDonagh spoke with Chris Van Vliet about the match, the injuries and his recovery in a new podcast released Thursday. He hasn’t competed since that Monday, January 27th bout with he and Dominik Mysterio against The Viking Raiders.

The injury occurred when he went for a springboard moonsault off the middle rope to the floor and landed on Ivar, but in the process, he hit neck-first on the announce table. He was checked on by doctors but waved them off. He blamed the injury on “the planning” as he hit the move on a different side of the ring than was originally intended. He said he had done the move on the announce table side before, but thinks he was “just was maybe a foot too far forward or a foot too far back and wiped out.”

“I was thinking ‘When is the next breath going to come?,'” later adding he thought the injury was just cracked ribs. He said adrenaline kicked in and that he was just winded as he continued to wrestle.

“The thought of stopping never entered my mind,” he said, saying he told the referee to tell Mysterio to just give him a minute. He said the referee took a lot of heat online, but that it wasn’t his fault as McDonagh said he was good to go.

He is back in the gym, doing low impact cardio and pilates with his full lung capacity back. He said his ribs are “good,” but he waiting for his bones to “knit back together” as he punctured his lung with his seventh rib. He hasn’t been back in the ring yet, but that is the next step.

His timeline is to return within another month, but that it’s up to the doctors to determine if that happens. He said he is jealous watching on TV every week, especially since WWE is heading to Europe for several weeks ahead of WrestleMania.

Daily Update: JD McDonagh, WWE Raw fallout, WWE 2K25

Posted on by Bryan Rose

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