The 10th annual Judgment Day took place at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Lest you think the WWE do something special to celebrate that milestone, outside of the return of Jeff Hardy (after yet another suspension for violating the WWE's wellness program), it was pretty much business as usual for a WWE PPV. Here's the card:

• John Cena vs. JBL - There's not much I can say about this match. I mean, I liked JBL's feud with the late Eddie Guerrero, but my feelings about Layfield have changed since then (and not in the "he's a heel so he should be disliked" kind of way). There have been quite a few matches where JBL has wrestled stiff and, because of that, my opinion of him has lessened. And Cena, well, my opinion about him hasn't changed. I am surprised that this is the first match on the card, though.
  
  
• WWE Tag Team Championship Match [Kane & CM Punk vs. John Morrison & the Miz] - I don't watch ECW and since the WWE decided not to air a recap of how this particular match (and the pairing of Kane & Punk) came about, choosing to show us some clips from "the Dirt Sheet" instead. Way to go, WWE! Still, this was a pretty entertaining match. So much so, that I found myself not minding the conclusion. Though I wonder why it seems like they've had Punk losing more matches than he's won since becoming "Mr. Money In the Bank".
  
  
• Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho - Unlike the first two matches, the WWE has decided to treat viewers to a brief history of events leading up to this match. But still, i'm puzzled. Spinning out of events brought about by his part in the "retiring" of Ric Flair, this feud is the result of Shawn faking an injury during his match against Batista at Backlash. Chris Jericho, whom William Regal made referee for the match, thought HBK's injury was legit. It wasn't - and Jericho said he had no problem canceling the match because of the injury, HBK delivered some sweet chin music to prove he faking it. That brings us to this match - both wrestlers bring the goods and put on a pretty good match, but my confusion about this whole angle, and exactly how the turn of events makes Jericho a heel, weighed on my mind while watching it.
  
  
• Todd Grisham Interviews Mickie James - I still miss Trish, but I heart Mickie.
  
  
• Triple Threat Match For the WWE Women's Championship [Mickie James vs. Beth Phoenix vs. Melina] - I'm sure she'll give us the party line about how she's just happy to be in the WWE, but I have to wonder what Mickie feels about not having anything resembling a coherent storyline up to this point. One minute, they're having her bat her eyelashes and endure some poorly delivered double entendres from Cena, and the next she's nowhere to be found. Heck, at Backlash (almost two weeks after becoming winning the Women's belt) she didn't even defend the championship! They threw her into the middle of a 12-Diva Tag Team match! If that wasn't bad enough, on the weekly Raw show, she made the occasional appearance and the WWE seemed more intent on starting a feud between Melina and Phoenix, which...what a coinky-dink...is how this match came about. Still, we should be thankful that the WWE found it in their hearts to shoehorn the lovely Ms. James into this match. Anyways, this was a highly entertaining five minute match, with the Beth's double backbreaker being the high point.
  
  
• Batista Threatens Shawn Michaels
  
  
• World Heavyweight Championship Match [Undertaker vs. Edge] - I like 'Taker, and I totally agree with Paul Heyman, who said that Edge is one of the best heels working today. However, much like 'Taker's 2,398 matches against Batista, I find myself getting tired of their watching them feud. I'm also tired of Edge's constant "ultimate opportunist" schtick. Sure, it's fine once in a while, but he's a good wrestler and it gets on my nerves at time. However, not as much as the ending to this match.
  
  
• Randy Orton Talks Of Reclaiming His Title - There are some people on this very forum who refer to Randy as "Randy Bore-ton". Personally, I don't agree or disagree. However, after watching this I might have to agree with them.
  
  
• Jeff Hardy vs. MVP - After running his mouth about how he wasn't on the card and how great he is, MVP issues a challenge to the "top tier" talent in the back room to come out and "expel him" from the ring. Matt Hardy comes out and tells him that there was someone who would prove that he was better than MVP. Cue Jeff Hardy. They come out and put on a great match that shows what MVP can do and that (hopefully) Jeff has his act together after his suspension and other terrible events in his personal life.
  
  
• Steel Cage Match For the WWE Championship [Triple H vs. Randy Orton] - tYou know a match isn't interesting when the only thing you're looking forward to is the spot where Randy breaks his collarbone. Unfortunately, I got my PPVs confused, and it didn't happen here - which amplified my boredom that much more. I think the fact that neither Trips or Orton shed any blood also contributed to my disappointment.

Additionally, viewers are thrown a bone in the form of the following Special Features:

• Home Video Exclusive [Todd Grisham Interviews Jeff Hardy] - A 30s interview where Jeff talks about houghts
  
  
• SmackDown! - 5/9/08 [Chase For the Gold] - A two minute and thirty-seven recap of SmackDown!'s Championship Chase For the Gold to Judgment Day. Since SD! has gone HD (and is the only WWE show I can see in HD, dammit), I saw this live. It's a shame the WWE went with a "package" instead of including the matches since they were pretty entertaining.

Video: Judgment Day's picture was colorful and vibrant. Since the WWE has moved to HD, the picture is sharper and the colors more...colorful. There's still some compression artifacts during the pyro elements, but it nowhere near as bad as it was before their switch to HD. However, since this IS a SD disc, it's a shame the WWE felt it necessary to leave the WWEHD logo in the upper left corner (not that the logo would be welcome on an HD release). It's presented in an anamorphic 1.78:1 ratio.

Audio: As usual, the Dolby Digital 5.1 was clear and enveloped my living room, with the various commentators in the center channel, and some ambient crowd noise in the remaining four.

Final thoughts: With the exception of the return of Jeff Hardy and being able to see the sexy Ms. James, I thought Judgment Day was an unremarkable, by-the-numbers WWE PPV. In fact, other than the Jericho/HBK and tag team matches, I was pretty bored by the whole thing. However, I will give it a Rent It recommendation - if only to see Beth's double backbreaker of Mickie and Melina. Oh, and also Jeff's return...if you're a fan, that is.