Damian Priest Shares Pride In Representing Puerto Rico After WWE World Title Win

Damian Priest successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contract after the opening match of WrestleMania 40 Night 2 between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre, becoming the first WWE World Champion of Puerto Rican decent since Pedro Morales 50 years ago. At the post-show press conference, Priest spoke about how proud he is to be champion as well as how important this victory is to represent his culture.

"I didn't do this alone, I think I had not just an island behind me, I had a whole culture and it's one of the most proud things that I've accomplished, it's just being able to represent and getting people to represent their cultures no matter where they're from ... I couldn't be prouder for my people." Priest also voiced his thoughts on the development of The Judgment Day, explaining that the goal has always been to elevate its members into the main event scene. However, he also admitted that initially the group and his character in particular almost went down the wrong path. "Then it took off into a different direction and I'll be honest, there was a moment that I wasn't sure if it was going to work and I thought I was done, I wasn't even sure if I would still be here with the company." 

Priest went on to describe the importance of getting to win the World Heavyweight Championship in front of his family, as well as being thankful to the city of Philadelphia for making the moment special. "Talk about one of the greatest, if not the greatest WrestleMania of all time, in a city where it was 20 minutes away from where I started my career. I did it in front of my father, my brothers, friends, one of the coolest moments of my life and shoutout to the Philadelphia crowd because they made that really special." Priest becomes the second-longest wrestler in WWE history to cash in his Money in the Bank, holding the briefcase for 282 days, just five days short of Carmella's record of 287 days.