Damian Priest hopes to continue working in wrestling even after his in-ring career is complete.
Trained at the Monster Factory, Priest's rise to stardom would begin when he signed with Ring of Honor. Debuting for the promotion in 2015, the man that would come to be known as Punishment Martinez would spend the next three years in ROH, winning their World Television Championship in the process.
Priest signed with WWE in late 2018 and would debut as the repackaged character we know today at TakeOver XXV. Over the next two years, Priest would find success in NXT, even carrying the North American Championship. He would eventually move to Raw following the 2021 Royal Rumble, teaming up with Bad Bunny to feud against The Miz and John Morrison.
Now the United States Champion, Priest has become a staple of WWE TV and is an integral part of their weekly programming. Speaking with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp ahead of SummerSlam 2021, Priest, soon to be 39 years old, commented on his future in wrestling outside the ring, saying that he would absolutely like to give back and work on the talent development side of things.
"Absolutely. I love this business so much. I love everything about it. Helping others has always been something that makes me feel special. Because through helping, it’s almost like you’re succeeding when somebody else succeeds. So, I’ve always felt that specialness. That’s a conversation that I’ve even had with Triple H a while back where, you know, hopefully, one day I could have the opportunity to be on this side of things alongside these incredible, incredible legends and help out,’" Priest said.
At the top of his game with no signs of slowing down anytime soon, Priest is taking on all challengers to his United States Championship. On the most recent episode of WWE Raw, he successfully defended the belt against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre in a triple threat match.
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