Preston Vance Recalls Damian Priest Believing He'd Never Be Signed Because He Was Too Old

It took Preston Vance five years to join a major company, but that's quick compared to a couple of his mentors.

Vance currently performs as 10 and is a member of the Dark Order on AEW television. He joined AEW in 2020 after making his professional debut in 2015. Looking back, Vance is appreciative that things happened the way they did for him because he watched others take much longer before they were signed.

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"I think about it every day," he signed on Busted Open Radio when asked about his quick journey to AEW. "2015 is when I debuted, so that was seven years ago. Mark told me this, everyone in this generation lives on microwave time. They want it quick. For me, I feel like this has taken forever, to get where I'm at. Then I look at other guys like QT (Marshall). He trained me, he didn't get signed anywhere for the first 13 years of his career. Same with Damian Priest, he trained me. I remember when I met him, he had already been wrestling for 12 years and he told me, 'My goal is to get you signed and I have a piece of your career. I know I'm never going to be signed, I'm too old,' and now he blew up. It's crazy to look at stuff like that. I was very lucky to be on a little bit of a fast track.

Priest signed with WWE in 2018 at the age of 36.

Vance is set to take on RUSH on the October 21 episode of AEW Rampage. Fans can check out the current lineup for the show by clicking here.

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