Damian Priest discusses title loss, face turn, more

[Chris]

Damian Priest on Winning, Losing, and the Pursuit of Excellence

“That whole day, it was insane”

www.si.com

On title win at WrestleMania:

“That whole day at WrestleMania 40, it was insane,” said Priest. “So many things had already changed. The closer we got to it, many people who are very, very smart came up to me and said, ‘Things can change.’ So you never know. I knew things could change, even up to the last minute.”

As Priest got dressed backstage, a sense of excitement captured his soul. When he arrived at the Gorilla Position to watch McIntyre defeat Seth Rollins for the title, he knew there was no turning back. His time had arrived.

“I was sitting in Gorilla for the whole match, laser-focused on the match,” said Priest. “I had to, otherwise I’d have gone crazy. Then, when the bell rang, that’s when it became real. Like I said, it was insane.”

On losing it at SummerSlam:

In the moments before he walked through the curtain at SummerSlam, he encountered a different type of butterflies. Priest was ready to create a moment for someone else, elevating Gunther to a place he has never been in WWE–world champion.

“It’s inevitable,” said Priest. “When you win this belt, the only guarantee is you’re going to lose it. But I’m not losing sight of what we accomplished. I’m the world champ walking into SummerSlam–that’s crazy.

“And forget for a moment about everything Gunther has said to me and what I’ve said to him. We’re not part of that class of the main guys. We’re seen as strong characters on TV, but we’re not Seth Rollins, we’re not Punk, we’re not Drew or Roman. We’re not the regularly scheduled programmed guys. AJ, Randy, Finn, we’re none of those guys. The fact it was Gunther and me in this high-profile world title match, that’s big. There were so many boys and girls in the locker room who were like, ‘One of us made it.’ That was my favorite part, hearing my peers talk about when it meant to them.”

On futute goals and Peacock Documentary:

“As much as I accomplished, there’s still so much more,” said Priest. “My dreams were to wrestle at WrestleMania and win a world title. Now there are new goals. I’m hungrier now than ever.”

“I’d seen a rough cut, but watching all of it, it really hit me,” said Priest. “I’ve been hated for so long. There were so many people there at the screening. It felt special. People supporting me, that felt good.

“I’ve been [babyface] before, but it wasn’t always me. This is me. And it’s cool to have people support me not because they’re told to, but because they want to.”

 

[Dale]

I'd be surprised if he got another world title again unless they really wanna go full babyface with him but all things considered i'd say it was a success. Gonna be fun to see him evolve again now though with this JD breakup feud.

 

[Daddy Deville]

I'd be surprised if he got another world title again unless they really wanna go full babyface with him but all things considered i'd say it was a success. Gonna be fun to see him evolve again now though with this JD breakup feud.

he has a successful run so far, I would say.

1x World Champ
1x MITB Winner
1x US Champion
2x WWE Unified Tag Champ
1x North American Champion

I feel like thats pretty impressive so far.

 

[Daddy Deville]

plus lets not forget he was in to help Bad Bunny and trusted with that. I say the future is def bright for him.

 

[Cwalker]

Yeah he's probably not getting that title back anytime soon. But it was a good run. Looking forward to seeing him as a babyface

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Even if he never wins the world title again, I'd say his reign cemented him as a top contender for future title reigns and firmly placed him in the main event sphere. So it was a massive success, I'd say. He also had really good matches with all of his opponents so there's that too.

 

[Bad News Booty]

Yeah depending on how this post JD feud goes I’d say he’s definitely ripe for more ME runs

 

[Jacob Fatu]

New Documentary about him up on the WWE network on peacock. Got to say I didn't know much about his life struggles and to get where he is today. Impressed how he got to where he is by chasing his dream and not giving up.

 

[Jacob Fatu]

He's better suited as a Babyface and now can challenge for more main event spots and let's see how he goes as I think his promos are getting better in this role, rather than being a heel.

 

[Cwalker]

He definitely gives me that Rey Mysterio/Dolph Ziggler vibe where you can put him in the main events and challenge for the World Title again, and even though you know he probably won’t win, he doesn’t feel outta place.