"My favorite match" - Damian Priest says he had to push backstage for a singles match against 30-year-old star
Damian Priest has worked his way up and became one of WWE's biggest household names in 2024. To many, he's a candidate for Superstar of the Year, although the remaining three months will determine whether that's true or not.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on his Insight show, the former World Heavyweight Champion said he had to push backstage for a singles match to happen. Damian Priest has actively been put in positions over the last couple of years where he has had to sink or swim. On almost every occasion, he has swum and surpassed the expectations placed on him, leading to him becoming Senor Money in the Bank and subsequently World Champion.
Although he doesn't possess the title anymore, his popularity is greater than ever as his war against The Judgment Day wages on - with Rhea Ripley by his side. Damian Priest detailed the behind-the-scenes push he had to give to have a singles match against the 30-year-old star Bad Bunny at Backlash 2023.
He revealed that there must have been some hesitation so they could turn it into a tag team match, but Damian Priest as well as Bad Bunny were adamant to make it a singles bout in Puerto Rico. He went on to dub the bout as his favorite match despite his loss:
“I would think there had to have been a concern in the office too. Yes, there’s confidence in me, but at the same time, they had to have been like did we make the wrong decision here? [Clearly, they did not make the wrong decision]. Thank you. I don’t think so either, and I don’t think they do either. But I’m sure beforehand because there was talk of changing it to a tag match. But at the same time, Bad Bunny and I were very adamant. We were like we don’t want to do a tag match, and I was proud of that one. Because, obviously I helped train Bad Bunny. I pieced this match together the way I envisioned it, and he did as well."
He continued:
"He had input, and he had great ideas, and then I was very adamant about all the representation. I wanted to use the LWO, so I requested Carlito and Savio. Maybe requested it under the guise of, 'You know Bad Bunny thought it was a good idea' [laughs]. But they added so much, especially for the crowd. It was a cool moment, it wasn’t a typical match. So it’s like, Well then let’s go all out. If we’re going to do it, let’s go all out. And it was great that everybody was receptive and they thought it was the right move and clearly it was. I mean, every moment of that match I thought was great. Hands down my favorite match, just because of what it represented. It was bigger than any win or loss.” [33:28 - 34:59]
You can watch the full video below:
Damian Priest wants to tag with a WWE veteran who 'broke' him backstage
Now that Damian Priest is a babyface, it looks like he may have to make amends with a legend he once berated and attacked - WWE veteran R-Truth.
Damian Priest thinks that he needs to team up with the 60-time champion R-Truth, calling him "unbelievable":
"Ah Ronnie [Killings], that guy. I mean, look, it goes without saying at some point we’re gonna have to team, we’re gonna have to properly. The guy is unbelievable how talented of a performer, actually, I can’t even say he’s a performer, that’s him," he said.
Priest also added that it isn't just what we see on TV, the R-Truth character is real and he managed to get Priest to break character a few times, meaning he couldn't stop laughing.
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