Damian Priest Recalls Key Advice From Triple H

Damian Priest has credited Triple H with giving him the advice he needed to get to the next level in WWE.

After 13 years on the independent scene, Damian Priest signed with WWE in 2018 and joined NXT. Over the following three years, the star became a popular part of the developmental brand, and finally won gold in 2020, capturing the North American Title at TakeOver: XXX.

The following year, he moved up to the main roster, and joined up with The Judgment Day in 2022. It was during his time in the group that Priest finally came into his own, and by 2024 reached the top of the company when he cashed in his Money In The Bank contract at WrestleMania XL to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion for the first time.

Behind the scenes, Priest credits Triple H for keeping him on the path to success. During a recent interview with WFAN, the star recalled The Game telling him that he should stop trying to pretend to be himself and just be himself.

“It was what I thought they wanted me to be. I remember my boss, Triple H, came up to me one day. He was like, ‘The day you stop trying to pretend to be you and you’re just you, you’re gonna make a lot of money in this business.’

“He goes, ‘Undertaker told me the same advice. I know it’s weird, right? Because how’s somebody telling you how to be yourself, that you’re not being yourself? You know you, but one day, it’ll click.’ Sure enough, one day, it just did,” he said. “I remember I was in a match in NXT with Finn Balor, and that was the first time that I felt that it clicked. Then, I got called up to the main roster.

The Judgment Day Was A “Game Changer” For Damian Priest

On the main roster, Triple H had to give Damian Priest the same advice again after feeling he had started holding back.

“Somehow I ended up going down that road again of trying to be what everybody wanted me to be. Same thing again. Triple H just being like, ‘You’re like, tense. You’re holding back. Just let loose. Who cares?’ He goes, ‘I’d rather tell when you get back to the curtain, ‘Hey, relax, don’t do that, or you’re going too far.’ Then tell you, ‘Hey, man, I need more from you. The moment he said that, it was another one of those things of, ‘Okay.’

After joining The Judgment Day, Priest says everything fell into place as he was able to boost his confidence while feeding off the rest of the group.

“Obviously, it helps when you have your friends around you. Being in the Judgment Day, helped my confidence a lot. Just having them in the ring with me, whether I was talking or just in a match, I just fed off of them, and then it was just this calm and smoothness that I just started to feel, and that was a game changer.”

Do you agree that The Judgment Day was a game-changer for Damian Priest? Or did leaving the faction provide him with an even bigger boost? Let us know what you think below!

H/T to Fightful for the above transcription.