Damian Priest says he was allowed to keep the Punisher Martinez name in WWE but he’s glad he didn’t.
Before making his way to WWE, Priest was known as Punishment Martinez. He competed under the Ring of Honor promotion where he captured the Television Title. Priest signed with WWE in the fall of 2018. In New Japan Pro Wrestling, he was known as Punisher Martinez.
Speaking to the folks at ViBe & Wrestling, Priest recalled being allowed to keep the Punisher Martinez name but feeling Triple H had a better idea.
“In my professional career, whether it was in the indies, ROH, or NJPW, I always had a character who in this case was Punisher Martínez. But it was always something artificial, it was not me. They are things that I like, like horror movies and rock music, but it is not who I am. When I started in NXT, Triple H told me that I could continue being Punisher Martínez but that he saw someone better in me and wanted me to show my personality. I had no problem changing.
“It was a different life and I could start from 0. We agreed on the name, and I told him that I loved rock music, archers, so many things in life that we decided to put together. And it was very easy and natural. Now, I’m not acting. It’s me. The Damian Priest that you see on television is the same that you can see on the street. It is the same person, and it made it easier for me to relax and be me, and the fans realized and they love me more because they know that it is real. That I am like this.”
Damian Priest is the current WWE United States Champion. He recently received praise along with Drew McIntyre and Sheamus for an exciting triple threat match for the title on the Aug. 30 edition of Monday Night Raw. Priest is set to defend his gold against Sheamus at the Extreme Rules PPV on Sept. 26.
