No matter how much of a seasoned veteran you are, you never stop learning. NXT’s Damian Priest recently captured the North American Championship after competing in his first Ladder Match despite the fact that he has been in the industry for over a decade.
Speaking with Sports Illustrated, Damian Priest revealed that he spoke with WWE Hall of Famer Edge in an effort to prepare for this first-ever bout at this later-than-typical stage in his career.
“This was my first-ever ladder match, so I made sure I did my homework,” said Priest. “A big part of that was reaching out to people who have been in ladder matches, and I spoke with Edge for an hour about it. For me, the main thing I took out of our conversation was that the match was not going to play out the way I thought it would. He was right, because that’s exactly what happened. Very little happened the way I thought it would, but I was able to adapt. He told me to stay in the moment, and that stuck with me, too.”
In addition to Hall of Famers such as Shawn Michaels and Triple H, Damian has also had the unique opportunity of being able to “sit under the Learning Tree” with the one and only Undertaker. It is an experience that he says taught him a lot about maximizing every moment in the ring.
“This isn’t on the Network or part of his documentary, but he came back to the Performance Center again and I got to work out in the ring with him, and I learned so much,” said Priest. “Ring positioning, look, awareness, being overly aware of your surroundings, he makes it all look easy. It might sound simple, but he has this gift of making sure everything he does means something. I really gained a lot from him.”
Damian Priest now looks to forge his own path on NXT. The next episode of NXT will take place on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. WrestleZome will have live coverage of “Super Tuesday” on September 1st beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern.
