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00:00:00Quick cheers, obviously I want to thank everybody here today for being a part of this special
00:00:17situation that's for me, which is crazy.
00:00:20But obviously you all mean something, that's why you're sitting here at this dinner table
00:00:23and I just want to say thank you to everybody here.
00:00:25Cheers.
00:00:26Cheers!
00:00:27Alright, let's have some drinks and food.
00:00:35I get asked all the time, what's the best part of what I do for a living?
00:00:40I look at this table tonight and I see my dad breaking bread with my stepdad, my mom,
00:00:46my siblings.
00:00:48My family suffered emotionally seeing me go through a lot of down times in my life.
00:00:54What I do following my dream allows me to share this with my family.
00:01:00There's nothing else I would rather do and this 100% is why I do what I do.
00:01:05I wouldn't change a thing.
00:01:10I'm one of the ones that wasn't supposed to and it's been a crazy ride, but no one will
00:01:18work for your dream because it's yours.
00:01:23There was a little bit of a time that I had to sleep in my car.
00:01:25I was close to 400 pounds.
00:01:26It took guys to tell me, hey, you're fat, you're out of shape, you suck.
00:01:31Those guys are the ones that made me better.
00:01:33When he realized this is my calling to do this, there was no stopping him.
00:01:37When you talk about momentum, you have to talk about Damian Priest.
00:01:42He has a presence about him.
00:01:44He's got this interesting look, you can see him move around in the ring.
00:01:49He kind of set himself apart.
00:01:51It is Damian Priest's moment.
00:01:54Damian felt like he had to act a certain way to be in this role.
00:01:58I could tell that it just wasn't clicking.
00:02:01I think fans knew something wasn't genuine.
00:02:04And then finally, he found the core of Damian Priest.
00:02:09There was no stopping him.
00:02:11Damian Priest, a force to be reckoned with.
00:02:15He's always been so supportive of others and it was his time.
00:02:20It was his time to have something big.
00:02:22Damian Priest has now seen your money in the bank.
00:02:27That's the kind of guy I want to get behind, and I want to trust and
00:02:30let him deliver.
00:02:32You think they'll let me cash in with my sunglasses on?
00:02:34They don't see my emotions.
00:02:37No way, my God, Damian Priest is here.
00:02:50My people of Puerto Rico, the champion of the WWE, Damian Priest.
00:03:10Getting to participate in the Puerto Rican Day Parade,
00:03:13which is the largest cultural parade of the year in the United States,
00:03:16as the World Heavyweight Champion, I'm proud.
00:03:19It was a day for us Puerto Ricans to show the world our culture and
00:03:24our style and our vibe, our swag, all of it.
00:03:28Dude, this kid's not gonna go to sleep now.
00:03:29Can you take one of me and Damian, please, dawg?
00:03:33Please, please.
00:03:34Come on, Damian.
00:03:37Being able to represent my culture and WWE is my dream and my passion.
00:03:43Together, I get to represent both.
00:03:45Man, I'm a kid in a candy store.
00:03:46This doesn't get better than this.
00:03:49I was born in New York City, I was raised in the Bronx.
00:03:53I don't even think I knew how to speak yet.
00:03:54I was taken to Puerto Rico, my parents split.
00:03:57My mom took me out there with my sister, and that's where I was raised.
00:04:02My kids were free.
00:04:03They had plenty of room to run around and ride bikes and-
00:04:08Yeah, we would ride our bikes and we would literally just go sit on the beach.
00:04:12But he was a little bit wild.
00:04:14I remember we used to trap crabs, try to bring them home, and yeah,
00:04:18my mom wasn't too pleased with those.
00:04:20Brought a goat home one time, that didn't go over so well, either.
00:04:23He always marched to the beat of his own drum, put it that way.
00:04:30He was around eight years old when he asked me for
00:04:34an actual wrestling ring and wrestlers.
00:04:37Yeah, check out the hot new WWE figures.
00:04:40Hot new WWE figures.
00:04:42We got him a pair of twin wrestlers.
00:04:45I know that they had on red jackets with spikes, and they were bald.
00:04:50It's still day for the nasty boys.
00:04:52Ah, what a rush.
00:04:55Wrestling is almost like a whole nother religion in Puerto Rico.
00:04:58Everybody knew every Puerto Rican wrestler that was from the island.
00:05:01You know, it was Carlos Colon.
00:05:03El acrobate de Puerto Rico, Carlitos Colon.
00:05:06Savio Vega, they were like our superheroes.
00:05:09If I wasn't raised in Puerto Rico, I don't know if I would have loved
00:05:12wrestling like the way I did, because it was just such a part of the community.
00:05:16So you had no choice but to fall in love with it.
00:05:18I remember the memory I have of, this is what I'm gonna do with my life.
00:05:25I love this.
00:05:26Come in, come inside my parlor.
00:05:34And it was a specific person, and that was The Undertaker.
00:05:37It was a segment of the funeral parlor.
00:05:40The Undertaker from behind.
00:05:43I remember he stuffed The Ultimate Warrior in a coffin.
00:05:45No, they're burying him.
00:05:47They're saying he's finished.
00:05:49Get out of there.
00:05:50Throw it out of there.
00:05:51And locked it.
00:05:53And then everybody was trying to pry it open because he couldn't breathe.
00:05:56The Ultimate Warrior's gotta be out by now.
00:05:59He has no air.
00:06:01And it was on two different channels at the same time, one in English and
00:06:04one in Spanish.
00:06:05And I remember running to my mother's room, and I'm turning it back and
00:06:08forth so she could see how cool this is, and she yelled at me,
00:06:12pick one, because she wanted to see what was gonna happen.
00:06:16In that moment, she was invested, and I just remember, I wanna do this.
00:06:21I want to make people feel emotion.
00:06:23I wanna do this with my life.
00:06:25Around 10, 11 years old, one of my brothers, Steven, was born.
00:06:32So I got to see him as a baby in Puerto Rico.
00:06:36But unfortunately, my mom had a medical issue where she couldn't really take
00:06:38care of me, so she sent me back with my dad back to the Bronx.
00:06:42Everything was just so concrete, like there was a concrete jungle.
00:06:48You didn't have the same freedom, especially in that time where we lived.
00:06:51It wasn't the nicest and safest area.
00:06:56If you went to a park, basketball, I would sit in the bench reading a book
00:07:00while he's playing ball with his friends.
00:07:02I wouldn't leave him alone for one minute.
00:07:05His first language was Spanish, didn't speak English at all.
00:07:09So growing up, for him, it was a little tough.
00:07:12My dad was very strict, so it was school, hours of homework.
00:07:18And then at nighttime,
00:07:18he would make me watch Wheel of Fortune to learn how to spell.
00:07:21Of course, every young boy looks up to their dad.
00:07:27He was like a big deal in martial arts at the time.
00:07:29So he was like my hero.
00:07:30I wanted to be like him.
00:07:32My background came from Japanese karate.
00:07:36When he came to live with me, I introduced him to the art.
00:07:41My father owned a martial arts school,
00:07:43where he wanted me to be better than everybody else.
00:07:48We had over 120 kids.
00:07:50And so my son was the top student, obviously,
00:07:54because his dad was the instructor.
00:07:56And it was really, really hard on him.
00:07:59I would look out the windows and I just see kids on their bikes
00:08:02throwing footballs or playing stickball.
00:08:05And here I am just, you know, squirting up with my pops.
00:08:10I didn't know that he was just trying to keep me out of trouble.
00:08:12He was trying to teach me discipline and respect.
00:08:16I was so strict.
00:08:17In my ways, I said to myself,
00:08:19OK, you need him to be a child.
00:08:21You need him to be a boy.
00:08:24All he talked about was wrestling.
00:08:26Oh, my God, he just drove me crazy.
00:08:28We went to practically every show in Madison Square Garden
00:08:31when he was young.
00:08:32I got to see all my heroes.
00:08:34I was there for a lot of cool moments
00:08:36and a lot of cool match-ups.
00:08:37Survivor Series, Psycho Sid versus Sean in the main event.
00:08:41That was the same night that The Rock debuted.
00:08:44Undertaker coming down like Batman.
00:08:46Even as a kid, I wanted to be like him.
00:08:49My love for the business grew.
00:08:51And I just knew in me, I was like,
00:08:52this is what I have to do with my life.
00:08:54There's no way I was born for anything else.
00:08:59I didn't continue school after high school.
00:09:02And then as I grew older,
00:09:04I just didn't know what I was going to do.
00:09:05I was doing jobs just to make a few bucks,
00:09:08but I had no direction or purpose.
00:09:11A buddy of mine, Charlie, came up to me one day
00:09:13and he was like, yo, why don't we do this wrestling thing
00:09:15that we always talked about when we were kids?
00:09:18First time I met Damien was high school.
00:09:20We found out real quickly that we had the same passion
00:09:23and love for professional wrestling.
00:09:25We've been talking the talk of it to this point.
00:09:26You know, we carried ourselves as wrestlers our whole lives.
00:09:29I was like, we got to do this.
00:09:30Well, what do we do?
00:09:31Just show up at the garden when they're there
00:09:34and just be like, hey, we want to wrestle.
00:09:36And he explained to me, he's like, no, like anything else,
00:09:38Damien, you got to go learn.
00:09:40I was like, dude, I found this wrestling school
00:09:42in South Jersey.
00:09:43It's called the World Famous Monster Factory.
00:09:46It was a tiny little building with two 14 or 16 foot rings,
00:09:50which is really small.
00:09:51One didn't even have ropes tied up.
00:09:53But to me, I was in a wrestling ring.
00:09:56This was the coolest thing in the world.
00:09:59We get in the ring and he's a natural.
00:10:01You know, the first back bump he took
00:10:02was like he was doing it for years.
00:10:04You could tell right away that Priest had everything it took
00:10:07to be money in this business.
00:10:10I wasn't too thrilled with it.
00:10:12I felt that he would be more successful
00:10:15going to school and whatever.
00:10:17I didn't want to discourage him, but deep down inside,
00:10:19I said, no, this is not what you're doing
00:10:21for the rest of your life.
00:10:23My brothers and my mom and my sister,
00:10:25at this point, they were living in New Jersey.
00:10:28My two little brothers thought
00:10:29it was the coolest thing in the world.
00:10:32Wrestling has always been in our lives.
00:10:34That's as far back as I can remember.
00:10:35He would have us like put matches together.
00:10:38It'd be so rare that he'd put us over.
00:10:40Like he would act like he was gonna and then stunner us
00:10:43out of nowhere with a chokeslam.
00:10:47I just remember being young and they're like,
00:10:49yeah, your brother's wrestling.
00:10:51And I was like, like on TV?
00:10:51And they're like, no, it's a little different.
00:10:55I had no idea what an indie show was.
00:10:58I remember just putting my hands up like this
00:10:59and like four people clapped.
00:11:02It was so embarrassing.
00:11:03It's not just, I just train and then I'm in WWE,
00:11:06wrestling The Undertaker.
00:11:06Got it.
00:11:09My mom would come home from work.
00:11:11They would change the kids, grab some sandwiches
00:11:13and they would go, where was it in New Jersey?
00:11:16All over South Jersey, Philly.
00:11:21It was very hard for me to see someone flipping my child.
00:11:27It's like where I come from, we don't do that.
00:11:30Not unless we want to start something.
00:11:33We'd go to every single wrestler, including him,
00:11:35even though he's our brother and still get his autograph.
00:11:38To us, it was like, this is awesome.
00:11:39He made it.
00:11:40It felt the exact same as what I was watching on TV.
00:11:44He was like our hero, just beating people up.
00:11:46And I was like, hell yeah, this is awesome.
00:11:49I was just happy about it.
00:11:50But now looking back, I'm like, no, he's going through it.
00:11:56Nothing good comes easy.
00:11:58The clock is ticking for him.
00:11:59He's getting older.
00:12:01He's living paycheck to paycheck
00:12:03and I could see the frustration.
00:12:06Wrestling wasn't really paying anything.
00:12:08You can't really make money off of a handshake and a hotdog.
00:12:11You can't really live off of that.
00:12:14So there was a little bit of a time
00:12:16that I had to sleep in my car.
00:12:18Sometimes I would sleep on the steps of a church.
00:12:30I didn't know.
00:12:31She didn't know.
00:12:33If he went hungry, we had no idea.
00:12:37Of course I could ask for help.
00:12:38Of course I could have told my family.
00:12:40I could have told my family, be it pride or whatever.
00:12:43I chose not to.
00:12:46Then my car got broken into.
00:12:48My gear got stolen.
00:12:50I had to quit wrestling because I didn't have gear.
00:12:54I would stay here and there with people.
00:12:57My mom would let me crash on her couch at times.
00:13:00We would get back from school and it's like,
00:13:02we had our best friend waiting for us.
00:13:04He never showed it, that he was going through it really bad.
00:13:07You'd get home and it was just smiles and jokes.
00:13:11My family tried to push me to be a police officer,
00:13:14a bounty hunter, fireman.
00:13:17I just didn't see it.
00:13:20So I decided to give it another go.
00:13:24So in 2010, I had my first tryout at FCW.
00:13:29And man, did I tank it.
00:13:32I gained a lot of weight.
00:13:34I was close to 400 pounds.
00:13:36My skills were so subpar compared to everybody else's.
00:13:39I was a good shot opener.
00:13:41But still at the time, I blamed everybody else.
00:13:44I was like, there's no way, why wouldn't they hire me?
00:13:48I didn't hold myself accountable for nothing.
00:13:52I want to show Martina,
00:13:53it's probably one of the most intimidating forces
00:13:56here at ECPW.
00:14:00I could see him start to kind of move towards
00:14:02that darker side of life.
00:14:04When you start second guessing
00:14:06and questioning your own abilities
00:14:07and questioning yourself.
00:14:10I was lazy, complacent.
00:14:13I didn't even see the inside of a gym for years.
00:14:17And I was not a good human being.
00:14:22It was just like, what am I doing with my life?
00:14:26For you, just like everybody else,
00:14:28we'll fall to the Punisher.
00:14:33I was working at another club in Atlantic City at the time.
00:14:35They gave me a free apartment and a free vehicle.
00:14:40I would take off weekends to do some wrestling events
00:14:42and whatnot.
00:14:43And I remember the club owner telling me,
00:14:45we love everything you're doing.
00:14:47We're going to give you more responsibility
00:14:48and give you a raise.
00:14:49And he goes, you got to stop doing that wrestling thing
00:14:50you do on the weekends though.
00:14:53No hesitation.
00:14:54I said, you have my two weeks notice.
00:14:57I remember as soon as I said that
00:14:59and I walked out of that office,
00:15:00I was like, what did I just do?
00:15:04Because now I'm back to literally having nothing.
00:15:07I'm out of shape.
00:15:09I have no money saved whatsoever.
00:15:13What do I do?
00:15:15Probably shouldn't skip over the fact that at the time
00:15:18my girlfriend had taken me in.
00:15:20She had four kids.
00:15:22We didn't have anything.
00:15:24So it was Dollar Tree shopping for all of us.
00:15:27But that day I really decided to change my life around.
00:15:30I started actually dieting and working out.
00:15:33So I met Luis while we were wrestling on the Indies.
00:15:37Around that point, he had just started dieting
00:15:39and he explained how he had a goal
00:15:40and his goal was to be in the WWE.
00:15:44When he realized this is my calling to do this,
00:15:48there was no stopping him.
00:15:50You know, before I swore to myself,
00:15:51God would guys that would just tell me how good I was.
00:15:55And it took guys to tell me, hey, you're fat.
00:15:58You're out of shape.
00:15:59You suck.
00:16:01Those guys are the ones that made you better.
00:16:04I was never somebody who believed in the idea
00:16:06of the power of positivity,
00:16:08but I needed something to believe in.
00:16:10So I gave it a shot.
00:16:11I was like, let me be positive about everything.
00:16:17I met Damien Priest for the first time in 2014.
00:16:20And I immediately understood there is so much charisma
00:16:26and so much star power just wrapped up
00:16:29in this enormous personality
00:16:32that walked into the room.
00:16:34And he got hired for multiple shows in WWE as an extra.
00:16:38Escort this person out of my building.
00:16:45I saw him backstage and he would say, walk with me.
00:16:48And then Heyman would speak to other superstars
00:16:50and tell them what they're doing
00:16:51or give them advice or whatever,
00:16:52but he'd make sure I was standing next to him
00:16:54and just listen.
00:16:56I had constant extra work in the Northeast
00:16:59and Heyman every single time would do that.
00:17:02And I remember the day I told him I got my tryout
00:17:04and he gave me a big high five and he was so happy for me.
00:17:12If I wanted a future in this business,
00:17:15I had to fix the visual part of myself.
00:17:17I stand before you here, 85 pounds lighter.
00:17:21I can learn, I can adapt and I am very coachable.
00:17:26He just got himself in great shape.
00:17:29We gave him some feedback last time he was here.
00:17:31He implemented that into his, what he does.
00:17:34So he clearly takes direction
00:17:36and is driven to try to do more.
00:17:39But a lot of people wanted to come into the company
00:17:41in that period of time
00:17:42and the competition for spots became greater.
00:17:46So he was doing the work, we just don't have a space.
00:17:51I continued working, I made a bigger name for myself.
00:17:54I got signed by Ring of Honor.
00:17:56I was making $40,000 a year and I was like,
00:17:59we're set, we're good now.
00:18:03The fact that I could now go to a normal supermarket
00:18:08and buy groceries at least once a month, that was nice.
00:18:12And this is 2017.
00:18:15It's not like it was 20 years ago.
00:18:17He kept doing the right things
00:18:18so people can be like, he doesn't belong in Ring of Honor,
00:18:21he doesn't belong in New Japan, he belongs in WWE.
00:18:25I had went to the show in Philly
00:18:27and I remember watching him.
00:18:29This was my first time seeing him
00:18:30and I couldn't help but realize how good he was.
00:18:36And then I come to the curtain after my match
00:18:38and she pulled me aside.
00:18:39I was like, I'm not gonna do this.
00:18:41I'm not gonna do this.
00:18:42I'm not gonna do this.
00:18:42I'm not gonna do this.
00:18:43I'm not gonna do this.
00:18:44I'm not gonna do this.
00:18:45I'm not gonna do this.
00:18:46She pulled me aside and she was like,
00:18:48I don't understand why you're working here and not in WWE.
00:18:52I said, you know, are you interested in going to WWE?
00:18:54Because I've seen what they look for
00:18:57and I feel like you have everything.
00:19:00Her saying, you know, why aren't you there yet?
00:19:02Really made me think.
00:19:04If there's a WWE superstar telling me this,
00:19:06those things motivated me more.
00:19:09Stayed the course, working as hard as I could.
00:19:12In 2018, I get a phone call.
00:19:16Hey, when is your contract coming up?
00:19:18About a month or so.
00:19:20When that happens, would you mind if we give you a call?
00:19:24Stop.
00:19:27And now I got an offer.
00:19:30It was one of the coolest days of my life.
00:19:32Why are you guys dressed up?
00:19:34What are you doing?
00:19:35I'm gonna get a sweater.
00:19:36Give me a couple of crossed arms.
00:19:38There we go.
00:19:39There it is.
00:19:41He's like, guys, I'm gonna be on NXT.
00:19:43And we're like, what?
00:19:44Like, it's for sure?
00:19:45And he's like, it's for sure, I made it.
00:19:47And we're like, bro, are you kidding me?
00:19:49This is awesome, awesome.
00:19:51He had accomplished what I've always said he wouldn't do.
00:19:54I said, you proved me wrong.
00:19:57So I have to be proud of that.
00:19:59It was really exciting to see him achieve a goal
00:20:03that he was working so hard for.
00:20:05I was sobbing, sobbing, sobbing.
00:20:08I was just so happy for him.
00:20:12I remember all the disappointments.
00:20:16He would say, well, they didn't take me, Mom.
00:20:20And my heart would just bleed for this kid.
00:20:28So to make it happen,
00:20:31as much as it meant the world to me,
00:20:33it meant the world that my mom got to experience that.
00:20:41When I would see video from him in other places,
00:20:44he always felt like the guy that was playing wrestler.
00:20:48You know, he was always trying on
00:20:50somebody else's personality.
00:20:52He was always filling shoes that he looked like
00:20:55he was gonna be a pro wrestler.
00:20:57He was always trying on somebody else's personality.
00:21:00Filling shoes that he looked like he was uncomfortable in.
00:21:04And it was like, who you wanna be?
00:21:06We gotta come up with a name.
00:21:08I wanna be a rock star.
00:21:13Oh yeah.
00:21:14When I was born, my mom wanted to name me Damien.
00:21:17My dad was like, the omen just came out.
00:21:20We're not naming him after the son of the devil.
00:21:22So we're not going that route.
00:21:26The name Damien is cool, but what's the last name?
00:21:29My first ever theme song that I used in the Indies
00:21:31was by Judas Priest.
00:21:33Damien Priest screams rock star.
00:21:36That's the one.
00:21:38My moment has arrived.
00:21:40This man Damien Priest is the rock star of NXT.
00:21:44Decisive and impressive.
00:21:47The archer of infamy, Damien Priest.
00:21:51Damien!
00:21:57Morning.
00:21:58Look at this murderous row here.
00:22:01Don't meet your heroes.
00:22:03I don't buy into that
00:22:04because every single one that I've met
00:22:06has treated me like gold.
00:22:09Undertaker is my idol.
00:22:11So getting him to critique my matches
00:22:13is one of the coolest, most badass things
00:22:15I've ever done in my life.
00:22:17Oh, but what a counter.
00:22:19Four on by Priest.
00:22:21Stuff that you guys did looked strong and believable.
00:22:24That's battle one right there.
00:22:26Even then, he has a presence about him.
00:22:29He can move around good for a big guy.
00:22:33This guy can pick up psychology,
00:22:35then he might have a pretty nice run.
00:22:38A lot of these guys that I looked up to
00:22:39are now people that I can confide in
00:22:42with, you know, looking for knowledge.
00:22:44Scott Hall was another one.
00:22:46Getting to meet him, asking him permission
00:22:48if I could use a surfer walk.
00:22:50X-Pac is right there with them.
00:22:52And I met him before I even worked in WWE
00:22:54and he's been giving me advice for years.
00:22:57I can't ask for a better crew to surround myself with
00:23:00for knowledge, advice, and all of it.
00:23:06You have this opportunity weekly
00:23:08or however often you're on TV to create these moments.
00:23:11And as you create moments, people start to pay attention.
00:23:15The more as a talent you give me things that are memorable,
00:23:18the more I remember you.
00:23:21Damian Priest proved what kind of superstar he is tonight
00:23:25against Finn Balor, win or lose.
00:23:27I don't know if anybody had a better showing tonight
00:23:30than Damian Priest.
00:23:31Damian Priest came to play tonight.
00:23:33Damian Priest had a star-making night.
00:23:36A different level of confidence came out that day.
00:23:39I really believe that that match set me on this course.
00:23:43If he wants to live forever,
00:23:45the Archer of Infamy just took the first step.
00:23:49The new NXT North American Champion.
00:23:55Damian at that point was putting things together
00:23:58at a rapid pace.
00:24:00You need to have confidence in somebody at that point,
00:24:03what they can bring to the table.
00:24:04I knew what he could bring to the table
00:24:06and I knew he'd do a great job with it.
00:24:09Hunter comes up to me backstage.
00:24:11He's like, you're getting called up.
00:24:13You're gonna debut at the Royal Rumble.
00:24:15You're gonna go into a program with Bad Bunny.
00:24:18I remember being confused at first.
00:24:21You guys know that there's an artist called Bad Bunny, right?
00:24:23You can't just name a wrestler Bad Bunny.
00:24:25And they just looked at me like, that is the Bad Bunny.
00:24:28We weren't sure if you knew who he was.
00:24:29I was like, of course I know who he is.
00:24:31I'm Puerto Rican.
00:24:34Bad Bunny, a two-time Latin Grammy Award winner.
00:24:38And he'll be performing live at the Royal Rumble.
00:24:42My favorite pay-per-view of the year
00:24:44sets the tone for WrestleMania
00:24:46and for me to debut here tonight.
00:24:50Inside, I think I'm a disaster.
00:24:53But you know, on the outside,
00:24:54I gotta seem cool to everybody else.
00:24:58The Men's Royal Rumble match 2021 is underway.
00:25:03The excitement of seeing all these people come out.
00:25:06Obviously, you know, he's coming out at some point.
00:25:08He's coming out at some point.
00:25:10Obviously, you know, he's coming out at some point.
00:25:12We don't know.
00:25:13I didn't know what number.
00:25:13Yeah, he wouldn't tell us, like, what number.
00:25:14He's like, you guys just gotta watch.
00:25:16I'm like, come on, man.
00:25:18He's like, nah, that's to be surprised.
00:25:24From NXT, the archer of infamy, Damian Priest.
00:25:32It's always great to see people make their debut
00:25:34in the Royal Rumble because you see just a taste.
00:25:37What do you have to offer?
00:25:39Seeing Damian Priest come into that Royal Rumble
00:25:41and have this strong performance, eliminate Kane,
00:25:45told us instantly that, okay, WWE sees something
00:25:49in this guy.
00:25:50But it wasn't until Bad Bunny came in.
00:25:53One of the biggest stars in the world
00:25:56confronts The Miz and John Morrison.
00:25:58You kind of see Damian Priest end up
00:26:01on the side of Bad Bunny.
00:26:03Oh, no!
00:26:04Oh, my God!
00:26:05Damian Priest eliminated Miz and Morrison!
00:26:09And where the hell's he going?
00:26:11Are you kidding me?
00:26:12Whoa!
00:26:13I've heard of flying squirrels, but flying bunnies?
00:26:17And you realize there may be even bigger plans
00:26:20than you thought for Damian Priest.
00:26:25Bad Bunny teams up with Damian Priest
00:26:28to take on The Miz and Morrison at WrestleMania.
00:26:35Bad Bunny.
00:26:36I met him before the Rumble,
00:26:38and immediately we became friends.
00:26:40So in Puerto Rico, I was raised in the same town
00:26:43that he was born.
00:26:44We started talking about wrestling
00:26:45and growing up watching wrestling on the island.
00:26:47His passion was the same as mine when I grew up.
00:26:50And it was really easy to relate to him,
00:26:52and I thought that was so cool.
00:26:58There's nothing more difficult than performing in a ring
00:27:02with someone that has never wrestled before.
00:27:05Come on.
00:27:07To pair him up with Damian Priest,
00:27:11this was a huge opportunity for Damian,
00:27:13because we're getting a new audience with Bad Bunny.
00:27:18And if Bad Bunny fails,
00:27:21then that audience might not stick with WWE.
00:27:23But if he succeeds,
00:27:26it's a great mesh for both parties.
00:27:31But it's a tremendous obstacle.
00:27:36I felt crazy pressure.
00:27:38This is my shot.
00:27:41And you're pairing me with somebody
00:27:42who's not even from the business,
00:27:45and I'm helping train him and dictate what's happening.
00:27:56This was a lot of weight put on me very quickly,
00:27:59because I felt if this failed,
00:28:02I'm screwed, dead in the water.
00:28:04The company will have no faith in me.
00:28:07I was the one with him all the time,
00:28:10and he's also now feeling more comfortable with me.
00:28:13So now that's extra pressure.
00:28:14Now I gotta do it for the company,
00:28:16I gotta do it for myself,
00:28:16and I gotta do it for him.
00:28:19And I gotta make sure that I do it
00:28:20in a way that makes everybody proud, including myself.
00:28:27All right, mount up, my friend.
00:28:35Going into that WrestleMania,
00:28:37I wasn't 100% of the time.
00:28:39I had tweaked my back a few weeks before,
00:28:41and I didn't know if I was gonna be able to perform.
00:28:47It was just really bad for him,
00:28:49just constantly in pain.
00:28:54This sucks seeing him go through this,
00:28:56knowing this is his moment, like his first mania.
00:28:59All right, on your side, my friend.
00:29:03It was a really scary time for us.
00:29:04I remember at some point,
00:29:05me and my brother just looking at each other on the couch,
00:29:07and we were like, how are you gonna do this?
00:29:09And he was like, I don't know, but I have to.
00:29:12Like, I have to.
00:29:13And that's just kinda always been his attitude
00:29:15with everything.
00:29:16That's kinda like what got him here to begin with.
00:29:25This is everything and more
00:29:26that I ever pictured in my head,
00:29:28just like what the aura of walking in
00:29:31to a stadium for WrestleMania.
00:29:35Crowds are back post-pandemic.
00:29:37I have yet to perform on their main roster
00:29:39in front of a live crowd.
00:29:42I mean, the fans haven't even walked into this place yet,
00:29:45and just standing on the ramp and looking around
00:29:47and just visualizing the feeling, the goosebumps.
00:29:52The hairs are, oh my God.
00:29:56Oh.
00:30:00Tonight's WrestleMania,
00:30:02the island of Puerto Rico is gonna be on fire.
00:30:06We can shine some light in our community,
00:30:08not just Puerto Rico,
00:30:09but all Latinos all around the world.
00:30:12That's a game changer.
00:30:13That's how you live forever.
00:30:17We welcome the WWE Universe
00:30:20to the greatest spectacle in live entertainment.
00:30:23This is WrestleMania.
00:30:32My favorite rocket, bro.
00:30:33Yeah, man.
00:30:34First time in a big show.
00:30:35F***ing rocket, bro.
00:30:37Rocket?
00:30:39Kill it, bro.
00:30:40That's all you.
00:30:41That's all you, man.
00:30:42I appreciate that.
00:30:44I guess I can't mess up now.
00:30:45NWO put me over.
00:30:49No pressure.
00:30:54This is how you make an entrance.
00:30:56An incredible entrance here at WrestleMania
00:30:58for international recording star Bad Bunny.
00:31:03Damian Priest has been unstoppable,
00:31:05and he is the perfect tag team partner
00:31:07for the impending debut of one Bad Bunny.
00:31:12To see him in this magnitude is just kind of surreal.
00:31:17That's my son.
00:31:20Damian Priest soaking it all in
00:31:22at his very first WrestleMania.
00:31:28Welcome to WrestleMania.
00:31:30Yeah.
00:31:34Now it's time to take care of business.
00:31:38Bunny with a takedown.
00:31:39And Miz is in a fight.
00:31:43Normally, it's like a WWE superstar.
00:31:45Some will say, let's not have Bunny in a lot of the match.
00:31:49I need all the moves.
00:31:50I need the cool stuff.
00:31:53But Damian had a different idea.
00:31:55Bunny needs to be in there a lot.
00:31:56And the reason being is nobody's expecting that.
00:32:00What do Priest and Bunny have planned?
00:32:02Oh, Priest over the rope and taken out both Miz and Morrison.
00:32:06His lower back was just messed up.
00:32:07And just remember watching that match
00:32:09and every time he took a bump, I'm like,
00:32:10please get up, please get up.
00:32:12You're good.
00:32:13And then you get up and I'm like, all right, we're good.
00:32:14We're good.
00:32:16There's no way anybody expected this.
00:32:18No, not at all.
00:32:19The hell is he doing?
00:32:21Oh my God, are you kidding me?
00:32:23Okay, I've seen it all now.
00:32:25I have seen it all.
00:32:26Bunny up now, top rope.
00:32:29Bad Bunny crossbody.
00:32:31One, two, three.
00:32:42Bad Bunny and Damian Priest win at WrestleMania.
00:32:46We've been doing this for a long time.
00:32:47I can't ever, I don't even know what to compare this to.
00:32:51I gotta say, I had no idea this match
00:32:53was gonna be this extraordinary.
00:32:56WrestleMania was the biggest thrill of his life, I'm sure.
00:33:01And that's all he wanted.
00:33:02You killed it.
00:33:03Oh yeah.
00:33:04You killed it.
00:33:07No, you didn't.
00:33:08Not too much.
00:33:08He's great, he's great.
00:33:09It was a good game.
00:33:10Thank you so much.
00:33:12I watched it with the girls and I was like,
00:33:14I was like a big fan.
00:33:16I was like, I was so good.
00:33:18Thank you so much.
00:33:19My back was on fire.
00:33:20I'm all sweaty.
00:33:22It's just one of those things,
00:33:23you never know how it's gonna go.
00:33:24To see it executed the way it was,
00:33:26insanity to say the least.
00:33:38Exactly.
00:33:39Oh my God.
00:33:47Talk about everything you dream for
00:33:50and what you expect and it was better.
00:33:56I did it.
00:34:00WrestleMania.
00:34:05WrestleMania, my first one.
00:34:09There was so much pressure going in
00:34:11with so many moving parts
00:34:14and there was so much room for failure
00:34:16and we killed it.
00:34:18I don't care what anybody says, we killed it.
00:34:23I don't think anybody will argue,
00:34:24Damien Priest has an extremely bright future here in WWE.
00:34:28When new superstars show up in WWE,
00:34:31there is an initial excitement.
00:34:34And he was having great matches
00:34:36and he was winning in important moments.
00:34:39All the way up.
00:34:41South of heaven.
00:34:46We have a new United States champion.
00:34:50But eventually, as a fan, you go, what's next?
00:34:54We hadn't really answered, who is Damien Priest?
00:35:00His version of who he is,
00:35:01is pretending to be something that he's kind of really not.
00:35:04He's a big dude that's menacing looking.
00:35:08If you didn't know who he was
00:35:09and that guy walks into a restaurant or a bar,
00:35:11whatever that is, you think like, I wonder who that is.
00:35:14There's an innate quality there.
00:35:16He's got an X factor.
00:35:18But he's unaware of his X factor.
00:35:19So he looks like he's trying too hard.
00:35:22I don't believe it because you're acting
00:35:24and I can clearly see that you're pretending
00:35:26to be something you're not.
00:35:30At that time, I was a certain type of baby face.
00:35:34Smiling baby face at all times.
00:35:39But it was very, very awkward.
00:35:41And I think fans knew something wasn't genuine.
00:35:45You have to feel a real connection
00:35:47because you can't fake it.
00:35:48If you're faking it, you could tell on the face,
00:35:51you could tell on your work in the ring.
00:35:53I could tell that it just wasn't clicking.
00:35:56As a newer performer on the main roster,
00:35:59I feel like Damien felt like he had to act a certain way
00:36:02to be in this role.
00:36:03That he had to speak a certain way to be in this role
00:36:06instead of just being true to yourself.
00:36:08Good luck to you next week.
00:36:09Appreciate it.
00:36:11It's frustrating.
00:36:12Very frustrating.
00:36:14When you know you have so much to give
00:36:16and I know he was frustrated at that time.
00:36:19You know, you get one shot
00:36:21and if you wait long enough on a low point,
00:36:23you make another shot.
00:36:23And if you don't make it count, that might be it.
00:36:26Will we see a new United States champion?
00:36:28We got him!
00:36:29Yes, we will!
00:36:34I thought I was done.
00:36:36I really did.
00:36:36I thought that there was no coming back from that.
00:36:40And again, here comes one of those mentors.
00:36:42Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
00:36:44At the time it was Edge.
00:36:46It was like,
00:36:48what if we formed like a new brood?
00:36:53This brood, tremendous, tremendous competitor.
00:36:57Edge, Gangrel, and Christian going left to right there.
00:37:00And I was like, thank you.
00:37:02Ha ha ha ha.
00:37:04Here it comes.
00:37:05Styles in position.
00:37:07The world?
00:37:08It's former United States champion Damian Priest.
00:37:11What the?
00:37:13Here goes Styles.
00:37:14Oh, spear in midair!
00:37:17Damian Priest delayed AJ Styles
00:37:19just long enough for Edge to counter.
00:37:22What sort of unholy union is this?
00:37:27What sort of unholy union is this?
00:37:33Oh man, that was awesome.
00:37:37This is the best parts of the dream
00:37:38where you get to work with your heroes
00:37:40and you become your friends.
00:37:42And so far in my time in WWE, this is right at the top.
00:37:47From day one when I saw him, I was like,
00:37:48ooh, okay, all right.
00:37:51I like that.
00:37:52I dig this.
00:37:53There's something there.
00:37:53We could work with this.
00:37:55And I feel like Priest is far further along
00:37:58than I was when we were in the ring.
00:38:01So it makes my job easier.
00:38:04Representing Judgment Day, Damian Priest!
00:38:11One of the things we talked a lot about
00:38:13is just him being him.
00:38:15Because when that red light goes on,
00:38:16it does different things to you
00:38:18and you begin to perform.
00:38:21When you're dressed as yourself
00:38:22and you're comfortable in your own look,
00:38:25then automatically your confidence is gonna increase.
00:38:27And I feel like that had a huge impact.
00:38:29Oh!
00:38:32Dominance.
00:38:34I always appreciated that I was asked my opinion.
00:38:37Like Edge wanted to know where I fell with certain people.
00:38:40And I remember the first person he brought up was Rhea.
00:38:42The newest member of the Judgment Day, Rhea Ripley!
00:38:50I needed something new and I was pretty down.
00:38:53And then I had a couple of conversations
00:38:55with Edge and Priest together.
00:38:57And we were just like coming up with ideas and plans.
00:39:01And we were all so excited.
00:39:03And that's when we knew it was gonna work.
00:39:05Edge was like from Valor.
00:39:06And I was like, all right,
00:39:08are you just saying to people that you know I'm an Earth?
00:39:11These are my people.
00:39:13Wait, wait, what?
00:39:15We all felt like we could be doing a little bit more,
00:39:19but we just hadn't found our way.
00:39:21No, this can't be.
00:39:23I don't believe it.
00:39:24I feel like all of that was just like enough
00:39:27for us to go, you know what?
00:39:29Let's show them.
00:39:29We are ready to shed the last bit
00:39:34of limitations holding us back.
00:39:37Oh!
00:39:39The patriarch of the Judgment Day
00:39:41being sacrificed before our very eyes.
00:39:45I really didn't want Edge to leave,
00:39:47but it also opened up such a massive door.
00:39:51And then the inclusion of Dominic.
00:39:53The Judgment Day are the only ones
00:39:56who ever believed in me.
00:39:58When he first joined, I mean, it made zero sense.
00:40:01It was Rey Mysterio's shiny kid.
00:40:04Like it just didn't make sense for him to fit
00:40:06with the Judgment Day till you saw him become his own person.
00:40:11Mom, shut up!
00:40:16All three of them, man.
00:40:17I can't thank them enough for just helping me
00:40:20along this whole journey.
00:40:22We really all just hang out as a family.
00:40:24We ride together.
00:40:25We'll have breakfast together.
00:40:26Then they just brought me in with open arms, man.
00:40:29And it was, I'm getting emotional, man.
00:40:31It was really cool because they did a lot for me.
00:40:36It's really exciting to see him with a group
00:40:39that he's in, their own little family.
00:40:41And you can see that there is a real respect
00:40:45and connection and everyone's working together.
00:40:49I love to see that.
00:40:50I love it.
00:40:59Going into that WrestleMania, I remember,
00:41:02I was like, man, I don't have a match.
00:41:04I don't have my own thing.
00:41:06Then the day of, seeing the Judgment Day,
00:41:09everybody else getting ready.
00:41:12I felt a sense of pride.
00:41:14You had some goosebumps in the back of your head.
00:41:17That's so f***ing cool.
00:41:19I was just happy for them.
00:41:24Man, that gives me goosebumps, you know?
00:41:26Cause that's, I never expected our friendship
00:41:29to grow the way it did.
00:41:30The fact that Damien wasn't on WrestleMania
00:41:33and he was more than willing to be a part of my match.
00:41:37He didn't care about himself at that time.
00:41:39He just wanted to be there for his friend.
00:41:41And that's really cool.
00:41:43That's really special.
00:41:55Priest is like my comfort person.
00:41:58He made all of us feel so loved.
00:42:00So when it came for his turn,
00:42:02we were all there for him for sure as well.
00:42:07Bad Bunny is here!
00:42:10Hey Damien, I'm going to Puerto Rico
00:42:12to kick your ass.
00:42:15You're crazy, you're talking to Damien Priest, son!
00:42:25Bad Bunny and Damien Priest
00:42:29square off a San Juan street fight
00:42:33where anything goes at Backlash.
00:42:38Not having my own match at WrestleMania,
00:42:41I'm stung a little bit.
00:42:43But having my moment in Puerto Rico,
00:42:46the entire island is on fire and excited
00:42:49and just in awe of this matchup
00:42:52and this spectacle that's going to be,
00:42:54you know, Backlash.
00:42:55This makes up for it.
00:43:00This was one that Benito and I understood
00:43:03the importance of it being in Puerto Rico.
00:43:08And we went to work.
00:43:11Priest was always trying to strive
00:43:12to do something better.
00:43:13So it always kept my confidence up
00:43:15that however we can get to putting him
00:43:18in that next level, he's going to deliver.
00:43:26I cannot begin to explain how excited,
00:43:31how proud he was to be able to go back
00:43:35on that island because that's where
00:43:37he fell in love with wrestling.
00:43:40This is for us. This is for the island.
00:43:42This is for Puerto Rico.
00:43:45Going into it, I know he was nervous.
00:43:48This is for our people.
00:43:49This is for our culture.
00:43:51This needs to be perfect.
00:43:53From the Lucha Libre de Puerto Rico.
00:43:55The WWE was Savio Vega.
00:43:57For me, Savio Vega was my favorite.
00:44:00Dominik Mysterio and Damien Priest.
00:44:07That's the kind of match that's going to get seen
00:44:09by not just wrestling fans,
00:44:10it's going to get seen by everybody.
00:44:12And to have that feeling of, wow,
00:44:15you know, all those crappy times were really worth it.
00:44:17Look at what's happening right now.
00:44:18And everyone's running up to me for pictures
00:44:21and autographs and I'm getting to represent my people
00:44:23and give back more importantly.
00:44:35Whenever we're with each other,
00:44:37we look at each other and we're like,
00:44:38we're getting paid for this?
00:44:40Like, we're at the basketball game.
00:44:41We're hanging out, talking s*** to people.
00:44:49Naturally for Damien, he was going up against Bad Bunny,
00:44:51he was going to get booed, but he just,
00:44:53he embraced it, man.
00:44:54Bad Bunny! Bad Bunny! Bad Bunny!
00:44:57And even some people were like,
00:44:58hey, beat Bad Bunny's ass.
00:44:59Beat Bad Bunny's ass.
00:45:01That's the plan.
00:45:02My man said beat Bad Bunny's ass.
00:45:05Love it.
00:45:07Little homie just said beat Bad Bunny's ass.
00:45:38I'll be honest.
00:45:39I've never felt a ring rumble.
00:45:43During Bad Bunny's entrance,
00:45:44it was the first time in my career that I felt that.
00:45:46Let the games begin.
00:45:48Bad Bunny said, we are superheroes here.
00:45:53There's times I just watch the video
00:45:54just to get, as a pre-workout, again,
00:45:56because it's like,
00:45:57as a pre-workout maniacal video.
00:45:58Just to see people get that crazy.
00:46:00And I'm like, you know what?
00:46:02I'm going to do this.
00:46:02I'm going to do this.
00:46:03I'm going to do this.
00:46:04I'm going to do this.
00:46:05I'm going to do this.
00:46:06Crazy.
00:46:07It is thunderous here.
00:46:10Backlash wasn't just about Damian Priest versus Bad Bunny.
00:46:16It was much more than that.
00:46:18And getting to include Carlito.
00:46:23Can somebody say Caribbean Cools?
00:46:26Carlito's here!
00:46:30Plus the returning Savio Vega.
00:46:37Savio Vega!
00:46:39Love's the Request!
00:46:43Every aspect of that felt so special.
00:46:47Oh my goodness!
00:46:51Bad Bunny with the win!
00:46:56What we did in that Coliseum, man,
00:46:58that was, it was bigger than any one win or loss.
00:47:02Tonight belongs to San Juan.
00:47:05What a celebration!
00:47:08What we did culturally,
00:47:09we basically let the world know we can do this.
00:47:13He was thrilled about it
00:47:14because he knew that it would open the doors
00:47:18for him and for everyone in the Latin community.
00:47:24You always think back,
00:47:26what were one of your proudest moments?
00:47:29I think that would be one of them for him.
00:47:31Absolutely.
00:47:33He found the core of Damian Priest.
00:47:36And once he found that
00:47:37and he brought the confidence along with it,
00:47:40there was no stopping him.
00:47:44A lot of times in what we do,
00:47:45that's really all that it is, is moments, right?
00:47:48Like that really put them on the map.
00:47:50The Judgment Day has arrived!
00:47:54It's not what you say, it's how you say it.
00:47:56It's how you make people feel.
00:47:58Welcome to the Judgment Day.
00:48:02And it's all about the story that you're telling.
00:48:04The Money in the Bank, the briefcase,
00:48:07it comes home with me.
00:48:10Like the timing is there, the moment is right,
00:48:12like he can handle it.
00:48:15You are looking live at a sold-out O2 Arena in London.
00:48:20Money in the Bank!
00:48:24Being in this ladder match is huge enough,
00:48:27elevates any superstar in a Money in the Bank ladder match
00:48:29because you're really close to taking the next step.
00:48:32If I win this ladder match, if I win that contract,
00:48:35my career is going to be right to the top.
00:48:42What an opportunity!
00:48:43Grab the briefcase inside a contract.
00:48:46You can cash in on any world champion at any time.
00:48:50I remember just sitting there like,
00:48:52you think they're gonna trust you with the briefcase
00:48:53right now?
00:48:54And he was like, I hope so.
00:48:55And I was like, I hope so too.
00:48:59Onto Priest, onto the ladder!
00:49:03He's afraid of heights.
00:49:04Every time I see him on the ladder,
00:49:06I can see him being very careful, like.
00:49:09And no one's got eyes on Priest,
00:49:11got the longest limbs in this matchup.
00:49:14LA Knight does, LA Knight leaps to the ladder
00:49:16and now delivers a back suplex!
00:49:21Never know if it's for sure gonna work out,
00:49:23but we knew he was gonna have a chance
00:49:25and that's all he ever needed.
00:49:29LA Knight's gonna, wait a minute!
00:49:32Damien Priest!
00:49:35Oh my God!
00:49:37Damien Priest is the only one up!
00:49:39He's about to change the entire trajectory of his career.
00:49:50Here I am, the person who always questions,
00:49:53do I belong here?
00:49:55Am I good enough?
00:49:56And I'm achieving this.
00:49:58That feeling of holding that briefcase,
00:50:00I was something else.
00:50:02But then it's also, wait a minute,
00:50:05I can become a major champion.
00:50:09I know how much he was looking forward to this match
00:50:11and how much has been on his mind
00:50:13the past few days slash weeks.
00:50:16So, I'm very happy for him.
00:50:20I remember him always telling me,
00:50:22Dad, you're gonna see more of me
00:50:24and I'm gonna be on top.
00:50:27And I would say, I wish.
00:50:29So, of course, I was super proud of that moment.
00:50:34The first few years of Money in the Bank,
00:50:35that was, hey, you know, you get money in the bank,
00:50:38you're a future world champion.
00:50:40But after the last few years,
00:50:42it's a very positive sign and we believe in you.
00:50:45But also, we've seen the cash-ins not work a few times,
00:50:47so I'd be very nervous.
00:50:48What's up?
00:50:49He's crushing it.
00:50:50He's a triple threat.
00:50:51Claymore by McIntyre!
00:50:55There was a lot of confusion and kind of misdirections
00:50:58the first couple of months that he had the briefcase.
00:51:01You ready?
00:51:02Wait a minute!
00:51:03From behind!
00:51:05Priest driven into the ring post
00:51:07and it's Sami Zayn!
00:51:12Damien's cash-in became a meme
00:51:13because he had tried to cash-in so many times
00:51:15and that briefcase was absolutely cursed
00:51:17and it would just backfire on him all the time.
00:51:19I'm here to help my brother!
00:51:25He had at one point expressed his concern to me about,
00:51:28hey, what if this doesn't work?
00:51:30What if I blow the cash-in?
00:51:32What happens then?
00:51:33I was aware of what people's opinion were of me
00:51:38and still are.
00:51:44I don't blame him for letting it get to him
00:51:46because we had so many failed cash-ins
00:51:50that sometimes it made him look a little silly.
00:51:57People, they don't know where it's going
00:51:59so they just, whatever they see in that moment
00:52:01they're reacting to.
00:52:02As a talent, that's difficult to deal with.
00:52:04So as a talent, you're Damien Priest going like,
00:52:06holy s***, are they right?
00:52:09Do I look dumb?
00:52:09Like I won this thing,
00:52:10I thought it was gonna be a great thing,
00:52:11now it's gonna be nothing.
00:52:13We're looking for the right moment
00:52:15to make the biggest thing possible for him.
00:52:18Hunter himself told me, he was like,
00:52:20all that crap that's out there,
00:52:22he goes, shove it down their throats.
00:52:24Prove them wrong.
00:52:26I said, okay.
00:52:28This is the city of brotherly love.
00:52:34Tonight, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
00:52:35will host the greatest spectacle in entertainment.
00:52:39Welcome to 40 years of WrestleMania.
00:52:44Nick here always says that a big macro transaction,
00:52:47like when we do a big deal,
00:52:48it's the result of thousands of micro transactions
00:52:51that take place over time.
00:52:53Like me working with him in NXT,
00:52:55me working with him on the main roster,
00:52:57understanding how much he wants this,
00:52:59how much he's willing to put into it.
00:53:01Right, all those things come together
00:53:02to make moments like that.
00:53:05This business is funny, man.
00:53:06And so many things can change.
00:53:08There was a lot of changes going into WrestleMania.
00:53:10So I'm not sure a thousand percent
00:53:13what's gonna happen at WrestleMania.
00:53:20I saw him the night before,
00:53:21so I was like, what's going down?
00:53:23Big guy, what's happening?
00:53:25And he was like, just come through, we'll see what's up.
00:53:29I got a phone call and they said,
00:53:30hey, I need you for something.
00:53:31I said, what do you need me for?
00:53:32He says, oh, it's not into creative,
00:53:36but we need you.
00:53:38So I text Damien, I said,
00:53:39dude, have you gone to the arena already?
00:53:40He says, yeah, I'm over here.
00:53:42I said, oh.
00:53:46I've been saying that I want
00:53:47the perfect opportunity to cash in.
00:53:49WrestleMania XL is already supposed to be
00:53:52the greatest WrestleMania of all time.
00:53:54Does it get any more perfect?
00:53:58I had my first match in front of like 20 people
00:54:00in this area.
00:54:02I feel like it's full circle.
00:54:03It's all, it started here and feels like
00:54:05I'm about to have the biggest moment of my life here.
00:54:08I was hiding in a weight room.
00:54:10I didn't want to have the same conversation
00:54:13over and over with people,
00:54:14whether I'm cashing in or not.
00:54:16Got a lot of time to kill today
00:54:17and thinking about other things.
00:54:19Figured it's a good way to distract myself
00:54:21with just getting a quick workout in.
00:54:28I remember standing on the floor in Philadelphia.
00:54:30You could feel this collective energy.
00:54:33People really hoped that Damien Priest
00:54:36was going to cash in.
00:54:39Nervous.
00:54:40I don't want anything to go wrong.
00:54:42And I'm putting on my tights.
00:54:45And of course, they ripped.
00:54:49Luckily I had a pair of leggings
00:54:51that I could put on underneath
00:54:52so it matches because they're black, but of course.
00:54:57He looked at me and he goes,
00:54:58kind of nervous.
00:54:59I said, why dude?
00:55:01I said, you got this.
00:55:03Are you okay?
00:55:04You want to talk?
00:55:05You want a minute?
00:55:06You want silence?
00:55:07So they were there to support me
00:55:08in whatever I needed.
00:55:10And then tell me, just relax.
00:55:13You're exactly where you're supposed to be.
00:55:19Walking up to Gorilla.
00:55:22Now it's when like, this is happening.
00:55:25Oh my God.
00:55:28As we continue to count down to WrestleMania,
00:55:31we are eight minutes away
00:55:33from getting this thing started.
00:55:35We go to the stadium like normal.
00:55:37Someone like calls us over to go to the front
00:55:40and I'm not realizing what's happening yet.
00:55:43You could just see him going like this
00:55:45and he was looking down into the briefcase.
00:55:47So I knew he was ready.
00:55:51Ladies and gentlemen,
00:55:52what a surprise to kick off WrestleMania.
00:55:56We have a World Heavyweight Championship match
00:55:58going down right now.
00:56:00All of Judgment Day,
00:56:01we were all in Gorilla.
00:56:03And we were like waiting,
00:56:05just waiting for him and his music to hit.
00:56:09McIntyre has won the World Heavyweight Championship.
00:56:14Rollins was able to survive,
00:56:16but ultimately McIntyre claims the gold.
00:56:25I told you he was the biggest moment of your life.
00:56:28I'm so happy for you.
00:56:30Enjoy.
00:56:34I see Punk start doing the thing with Drew.
00:56:36Get a shot.
00:56:37I want this framed on my wall.
00:56:39I'm like, wait a second.
00:56:41What's happening right now?
00:56:43There's such bad blood between these two men.
00:56:46Punk's on the injured list because of McIntyre
00:56:48and he hasn't forgotten it.
00:56:58Get him out.
00:57:00Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
00:57:03He's coming.
00:57:04Signora Murray in the bag.
00:57:06Damian Priest is here.
00:57:09Come on, come on, come on, come on.
00:57:11Damian Priest running to the ring.
00:57:14And he bounces the briefcase off McIntyre's face.
00:57:18I'm cashing in right now.
00:57:20And he's cashing in right now.
00:57:22Priest is cashing in.
00:57:33Here is your winner and new World Heavyweight Champion,
00:57:41Damian Priest.
00:57:48Come on.
00:57:52It was one of those experiences that I can see myself
00:57:55doing everything.
00:57:57So the heavyweight champion, Damian Priest.
00:58:02Self-heavy chokeslam.
00:58:05One, two, three.
00:58:11Eddie holding my hand up.
00:58:14It's wild.
00:58:19To have been there for everything,
00:58:20it's just very special.
00:58:22Knowing his past to the moment where he became champion.
00:58:28And I was there next to him.
00:58:30Damian Priest cashed in for the second time
00:58:34in WrestleMania history.
00:58:37Us being that excited was a genuine, bloody reaction.
00:58:40We were so happy for him.
00:58:42And the Judgment Day celebrating.
00:58:45I think I get more emotional for other people's success
00:58:48than for my own.
00:58:49Instantly, you know how much it means to them.
00:58:52And that just brings me so much joy.
00:58:56We were all tearing up.
00:58:58It just shows how much of a family we really are.
00:59:02Tonight was the moment.
00:59:04Damian Priest is the World Heavyweight Champion.
00:59:15Eddie.
00:59:16My brother.
00:59:17Love you, man.
00:59:25Oh my God.
00:59:26Congratulations, man.
00:59:27You deserve this.
00:59:28You worked your f***ing ass off.
00:59:29From the start of it, you got in great shape, man.
00:59:32F*** yeah.
00:59:33Congratulations.
00:59:34Thank you so much.
00:59:35So f***ing good, man.
00:59:37Let it out.
00:59:38I love you, man.
00:59:39I love you too, man.
00:59:40But let this s*** out.
00:59:41Be emotional, man.
00:59:42It's okay.
00:59:43It's s***.
00:59:44Be emotional.
00:59:50We all came back into Guerrilla.
00:59:53And it was at that point where Damian was just mobbed by everyone.
01:00:09That means more than I think any of them realized.
01:00:14I'm so happy for you.
01:00:15To cash in at WrestleMania?
01:00:17I mean, couldn't have happened in a better spot.
01:00:23You f***ing did it, bro.
01:00:28F***.
01:00:43Thank you, man.
01:00:44I'm so proud of you, bro.
01:00:45I'm so proud.
01:00:48He did it.
01:00:49He did it.
01:00:50He went all in and he fought hard.
01:00:53And trust me, there were times there that I know he wanted to give up.
01:01:00But he didn't.
01:01:01And I'm so proud of him.
01:01:05I'm sorry.
01:01:10Lord.
01:01:12I can't believe that he's actually doing what he's told me since he was a child.
01:01:20And now I say, yeah, his dream has come true.
01:01:23Sorry to interrupt.
01:01:24Congratulations.
01:01:25Thank you, my brother.
01:01:26Congratulations, brother.
01:01:27Congratulations.
01:01:29F*** out of you.
01:01:30Awesome.
01:01:31Awesome job.
01:01:33That's great.
01:01:38When would in my wildest dream ever believe that my son was going to be mingling with
01:01:43these people?
01:01:44Well, you know, yeah, he's a big superstar, but he's still my son.
01:01:48For a moment, right?
01:01:49Yes, sir.
01:01:50Congratulations.
01:01:51Thank you very much.
01:01:52This is my family.
01:01:53My father, my brothers.
01:01:54How you guys doing?
01:01:55How are you, sir?
01:01:56Good.
01:01:57Pleasure to meet you.
01:01:58Likewise.
01:01:59You're a good boy here.
01:02:00Yes, I am.
01:02:02When you have those type of people believing in you and happy for you legitimately, it
01:02:06makes everything feel more worth it.
01:02:10That's a big moment in his career.
01:02:11And, you know, those kind of things coming from the right people sometimes are just what
01:02:17a talent needs to reach that next level.
01:02:21The road to that title is filled with a lot of potholes and detours.
01:02:25And he navigated that path like a pro.
01:02:28He has completely taken his life from the streets to winning a title at WrestleMania.
01:02:36Priest cares.
01:02:37He's one of the first guys, when he comes back from the ring, he walks over to Ram and
01:02:41he wants to know what he did right, wants to know what he did wrong, and he's genuinely
01:02:45interested.
01:02:46And for me, when somebody is like that, then that's the kind of guy I want to do business
01:02:50with.
01:02:51That's the kind of guy I want to get behind.
01:02:52And I want to trust.
01:02:55Very few people we know that have reached their actual dreams.
01:02:59He just had to keep pushing.
01:03:00He knew it.
01:03:01He knew since he was younger.
01:03:03As a parent, to see your child doing something like this is amazing.
01:03:09I'm just so proud because my son is living his dream.
01:03:16Damien Priest cashed in and won the World Heavyweight Championship!
01:03:23It's been a crazy ride.
01:03:26Would I change anything?
01:03:29I don't think so.
01:03:30Because I don't think I'd be the person I am today.
01:03:32Because the amount of cool things that will happen along the way, you won't regret a damn thing.
01:03:46I just can't believe it's real.
01:03:53It's badass.
01:03:59Man, I think about everything.
01:04:01The journey.
01:04:03All of it.
01:04:04I'm just proud.
01:04:07Everything that had to happen to get here wouldn't change anything.
01:04:16Really badly wanted this.
01:04:18But a part of me wasn't sure if it was ever going to happen.
01:04:22Seeing this picture up, we're the best in the biz right now.
01:04:25Tumbling.