Damian Priest recently did an interview with PWinsider.com where he spoke about a wide range of topics. Here are the highlights:
#1 Contender’s Fatal 4-Way Match on Wednesday’s NXT episode:
“Oh man, I’m just way looking forward to it. You could be in the ring going with anybody and especially in this company and particularly this brand. There’s so much talent and so the end ring, you know it’s going to be top notch. But you put me in a scenario with three of the most physical and imposing as far as just ability and strength and whatnot in one match. Yes, I’m looking forward to it. And it also helps me because it’s a guaranteed opportunity where I get to show out and it’s going to stand out. There’s going to be a lot of eyes on this match, and I look forward to it because the idea of who I am, Damian Priest, I want everybody to remember me. So this is a perfect opportunity for me to showcase who I am, what I am, and what I could do with some of the top, top level talent in this brand and the idea is to come out on top too. So yeah, I’m looking forward to it, and I know what it means. I know that this is extremely important, not just because the winner gets an opportunity at a championship, but just this was the first advertised match of the year for the NXT brand. This is going to be the first main event match of the year for the NXT brand. And it means a whole hell of a lot to me that I’m in it and I’m in it with this talent that’s on fire right now. Because everybody in that match is on fire, and I look forward to just showing out and showing what I can do with them.”
Getting used to the WWE style:
“It was basically like turning back the clock and becoming a novice and a rookie all over again. And I was willing to do that. I mean when you’re sitting around a table and you have a Shawn Michaels, Terry Taylor, Matt Bloom, Robbie Brookside and Norman Smiley. I don’t want to leave people out so I’ll stop there. But there’s so many coaches, and there’s so many legends that even stop by and talk to us on a regular basis that if you can’t learn, if you can’t improve, if you can’t appreciate the knowledge that’s being bestowed on you, then you don’t belong here in the first place. There’s a reason why the top talent on the NXT brand are on TV. Is because they’re willing to accept that knowledge no matter how long they’ve been working, no matter how much they think they know, and I was for sure one of those that came in basically like I knew nothing and just had open ears and just teach me so to speak. And that wasn’t what they were about either. The Performance Center is not about someone that has experience. “Yeah, we’re going to teach you from scratch. We’re going to teach you all the basics all over again and we got to reprogram you.” That is not what the case, which I think a lot of people think. It was basically making me who I am, the best version of me. So let’s take you with what you do and who you are and just do it in a way that is the best possible way for yourself. The lessons were invaluable. And then the atmosphere where you actually, I get to go into the PC now and help others, which in turn helps me, and I just feel like it just shows the love for this business. There’s so much love for this business that it reminds you why we fell in love with this business in the first place. And it’s that passion that you’ve seen in so many people and the positivity, just wanting to succeed and make not just ourselves, but the whole brand, the company, the business better. I love, love every second that I’ve gotten to spend at the Performance Center. And even days that I don’t have to be there, I go in. I will be there later today, and I don’t have to go in today, but I will be there just because I love being around it because the atmosphere it’s intoxicating in a positive way, and I’m grateful for all the time that I spent there.”
