Damian Priest: Backlash Puerto Rico Was A Cultural Moment

The Watch List looks at what matches you should be watching, and they are recommended by today’s professional wrestling stars.

WrestleZone recently spoke with Damian Priest and Finn Balor, who reflected on their respective work as singles competitors and teaming as Judgment Day. Balor began, picking his NXT Championship loss to Samoa Joe at an NXT live event in Lowell, Massachusetts. Balor’s 292-day reign ended that night, but he chose that bout because of how it made him feel in the ring.

Finn Balor: “Great question. I’m just gonna go with my favorite match of my career. I don’t know if it necessarily represents my work the best, but the emotion I felt in the match in Lowell, Massachusetts on a house show against Samoa Joe where I lost the NXT Championship was one of the most alive feelings I have felt in a ring. That for me certainly sticks out about one of my favorite moments from my career.”

Damian Priest was next, and he chose his now-classic street fight against Bad Bunny at WWE Backlash 2023.

Damian Priest: “For me, it was Puerto Rico versus Bad Bunny. A match that exceeded just the idea of what we do as a profession. That was more of a cultural representation, a moment for me which is way more important. And that for sure, is something I get to represent what I love to do as my job, as a WWE Superstar, and also get to do something that I love as a representative of humanity and my culture. So that was definitely by far my favorite.”

Judgment Day

In regards to their run together as Judgment Day, Balor and Priest were on the same page.

Balor: “There was a couple we done with Sami and KO that were a lot of fun. Especially, I think — I don’t know the rules; was it a street fight, or No DQ match or something? I remember that one [at Payback 2023]…

Priest: “… they’re all the same. [laughs]

Balor: “Yeah, yeah, they’re all the same. [laughs] That one was a lot of fun for sure.”

Priest: “That was when we won the titles. So for me, that set the highest bar for us as a tag team, the first time we won the Undisputed tag team titles. It was a rocking match, with a rocking crowd. We’re really happy with that one.”