Damian Priest is confident walking into his match with Bad Bunny at WWE Backlash.
On Saturday, May 6, WWE will host the Backlash premium live event from the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Historically speaking, this will be a massive event for the promotion, as it is the first premium live event/pay-per-view to be held in the country since 2005.
One of the top matches on the card is a San Juan Street Fight between Bad Bunny and Damian Priest. The two former WrestleMania tag team partners have been on opposing sides recently, as Bunny sided with Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 39.
In a new interview with WWE's After The Bell podcast, Priest first talked about why he put Bad Bunny through a table on an episode of Raw and how he was simply defending his family in that moment.
"Not in the moment. In the moment, I’m reacting to what’s happening. To me, he got involved at WrestleMania. I even said it then, ‘I get it. That’s it, it’s over, don’t get involved with our stuff anymore.’ You asked, ‘You guys used to be friends, how can you do that?’ I was asking everyone the same question. If a friend of yours does something to a family member, what do you do? That’s what he did. I was defending my family. In the moment, I didn’t see my friend. I didn’t see Bad Bunny the music star. I saw somebody that I had to lay out and put in their place to defend my family. That’s what it was. The aftermath has been wild. I wasn’t expecting all that, but I’ll take it and use it to my advantage."
Priest then went on to say that Bunny is screwed now that he doesn't have a protector and that he's going to bring him a whole other level of violence.
"He’s had success in WWE, probably because I was watching his back. I was his protector. I felt that entire year when he was around, I was playing protector, making sure he didn’t get hurt and if someone stepped up to him, I was the one to stand in front of them. Now, he has to be confused. He’s definitely confused the fans because they believe he has a shot at beating me up. This is what I do. I hurt professional athletes. He is not a professional athlete. I don’t know what he expects out of this match, I know for him it’s a dream to have a singles match and it’s in Puerto Rico and it all sounds cool on paper, but I’m going to bust him up. I’m going to hit him hard. I’m going to hurt him. He’s going to be injured. When The Undertaker, toward the end of his career, he told me that he wrestled once a year because he needed a whole year to recover. That’s the Undertaker. How long do you think Bad Bunny is going to need to recover? If he ever recovers. This is not going to go the way he thinks. This is not going to be a good day for Bad Bunny. I’m not going to treat him like a music artist. He made this match, a street fight at that. I don’t know what he expects, but I’m going to treat him like I would any other WWE superstar and I’m going to do it in a street fight in Puerto Rico. It’s a whole other level of violence that he’s not ready for."
Priest finished off by reiterating that Bunny is crazy for doing this match before noting that he will make sure that he won't be able to walk out of the arena by the end of the street fight.
"This is nuts. I’m not sure if he understands it. He can’t, or else he would not have made the decision that he made. I really believe that he looks at himself in the mirror and he’s not thinking about what’s going to happen, he’s thinking about the idea. It sounds cool, it sounds awesome. ‘I get to show off in front of my fans. Everyone is going to be so happy. I get to perform in front of my family.’ No. He’s not looking at what’s going to happen. What’s going to happen is, he’s going to get in the ring and I’m going to beat the living hell out of him, and I’m not going to feel bad. If anything, I’m probably going to come at him harder than I would another superstar just out of spite. I’m not going to his concert, getting on stage and grabbing the mic, and singing his songs. Yet he thinks he can get in the ring and fight like I do. You’re crazy. You’re crazy if you think that’s going to fly and be okay. He’s crazy to think that just because we were cool, that maybe I’m not going to hurt him as bad. He’s not walking out of the arena. He’s not walking out. He brought a stick. Okay. Now, what happens when I can grab one. What happens when I put him through a table. A second one, a third one. What happens when I put him through the ground. He hit me with a stick a bunch of times, it’s done, he marked me up, I look like I got a bunch of mosquito bites. Cool. Watch when I smack him in his face and his whole face lights up like a Christmas tree. I’m not worried about it. It’s going to be historic music because there will be nothing else coming from Bad Bunny."
Fightful Select recently reported on what the original plans were for Bad Bunny at the Backlash show. Fans can subscribe today to find out more.
Fans can see the full card for WWE Backlash 2023 by clicking here.
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