WWE United States Champion Damian Priest will open Monday Night Raw tonight (Aug. 30).

Tonight’s episode of Raw will take place inside the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Sheamus will be looking for revenge after WWE Champion Bobby Lashley left him high and dry during a tag team match last week.

After the tag match, Sheamus confronted Lashley face-to-face. The two had to be separated by MVP.

WWE has announced that Priest will be getting Monday Night Raw started. He’ll be putting his United States Championship on the line in an Open Challenge.

A matchup between The Miz and John Morrison had been set for tonight’s Raw, but that is no longer being advertised. The Miz recently turned his back on Morrison after the two had been hinting at a split.

Here’s a look at what’s been announced for tonight’s Raw thus far.

• Eva Marie vs. Doudrop
• WWE Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Sheamus in a non-title match
• Damian Priest defends his WWE United States Title in an Open Challenge

Can’t catch the action live? Be sure to check out the homepage of SEScoops after tonight’s episode of Raw as we’ll be posting results, which will include video highlights.

Damian Priest says The Miz is someone he’s been able to learn from as far as promo work is concerned.

Priest and The Miz have been feuding for months. During their time on TV, Priest has been able to grasp doing promos. Once WWE transitioned from the ThunderDome back to live crowds, Priest had to speak in front of large audiences.

During an appearance on After The Bell with Corey Graves, Priest admitted that while being on the mic is nerve-racking, The Miz was able to teach him a lot.

“I couldn’t ask for a better way to segue from NXT to Raw than working with The Miz. He just knows how to be important. He knows how to be front and center and be a star. Just being in the ring with him, I can feed off that stuff and learn. Watching him do things, I’m like, ‘Oh, I should probably do it that way.

“To me, the most uncomfortable thing is holding a microphone and speaking to the WWE Universe. With him, I see how his flow goes and how he breaks and how he makes sure that you understand every single word he says. Being in the ring on Miz TV, I’m listening to him speak and the way he delivers it. You can see when I start speaking and by the end, I’m more speaking how he does. I’m like, ‘This is why he’s so good.’ The way his speaking gear changes and he can deliver different types of emotions and levels.”

Damian Priest has been receiving a steady push on WWE television. He is the current United States Champion. He won the title from Sheamus at SummerSlam. At WrestleMania earlier this year, he teamed with Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny. The two defeated The Miz and John Morrison.

Sheamus put the WWE United States Championship on the line when he faced off with Damian Priest at the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view event in Las Vegas, Nevada at Allegiant Stadium.

Priest with an outside dive and he landed bad on his hip. He clearly was in pain, which is not great considering he had a back injury earlier this year. Priest with the heel kick then hit his finisher for the win. 

WWE set up this match on the August 9th edition of Raw when Sheamus accepted a challenge from Priest. Last month, Priest was set up as the next challenger for the title when he defeated Sheamus in a non-title match.

On the August 9th Raw, Sheamus and Priest both picked up wins as Sheamus defeated Ricochet in a non-title match, while Priest defeated John Morrison.  Heading into the match, Sheamus vowed to put Priest in his place.

Sheamus has been United States Champion since winning the title from Riddle at WrestleMania 37 this April.

Time will tell whether WWE continues this feud or goes into a different direction heading into the Extreme Rules pay-per-view event in September.

What are your thoughts on Priest winning the United States Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

Damian Priest has revealed that it was looking like his angle with renowned recording artist Bad Bunny wouldn’t come to fruition.

Priest was involved in the biggest angle of his pro wrestling career going into WrestleMania 37. At “The Grandest Stage of Them All” Priest teamed with Bad Bunny to take on The Miz and John Morrison. It was a chance for Priest to showcase his talents to a new audience as well as get the existing WWE Universe members behind him. Priest and Bad Bunny ended up winning the match.

Appearing on the Battleground podcast, Priest recalled the opportunity nearly slipping from his grasp.

“The day before the Royal Rumble, it got scrapped.  I wasn’t supposed to be a part of it. Come the Royal Rumble, it was back on. I know for instance, HHH said, ‘I don’t know why they told you that was going to change, but no, we’re still going to go with this because this is more realistic.  It’s an actual thing that you’re friends.’  To go along with that, it was also Bad Bunny, where they told him they were going to switch it, and he actually spoke up and said, ‘No, I want to work with Priest.’  That’s actually really cool because if he would have said, ‘Ok, yea, I would rather work with somebody else,’ they would have given him whatever he wanted, but he specifically said he wanted me to work with him.”

Priest said that he was able to get along with Bad Bunny quickly as they both share Puerto Rican heritage. He went on to praise the popular artist for taking the wrestling business seriously.

“He wanted to put in the work.  He didn’t want to come in here and just be that celebrity that was in and out.  He wanted to make his fans proud, our fans proud, and his fandom proud because he is a huge fan.  He understands the respect that’s needed to be put into this business to be successful.  He did everything the right way, and it showed.”

You can add Damian Priest to the long list of wrestlers that have praised Bad Bunny. Triple H, Randy Orton, The Miz, and others have expressed their joy after Bad Bunny’s performance and dedication to the industry.

Damian Priest made his return to in-ring action on Monday Night Raw. He did so by competing in an over-the-top-rope battle royal to determine who would replace Randy Orton in a triple threat match later in the show with the winner advancing to the men’s Money in the Bank Ladder match.

Priest has been missing from WWE TV for over a month due to an injury. The final four were Riddle, Cedric Alexander, Priest, and Jeff Hardy. The finish saw Alexander eliminate Hardy, Priest eliminate Alexander, and Riddle eliminated Priest with a kick. 

Priest reportedly suffered a back injury before WrestleMania 37, which caused concerns as to whether he could work his tag match with Bad Bunny against The Miz and John Morrison at the pay-per-view event. 

It was such a concern that WWE went to the point where they had advertised Bunny vs. Miz in a singles match before going back to the original plans for the tag team match.

Priest ended his feud with The Miz at WrestleMania Backlash where they worked a Zombie Lumberjack match. In that same match, Miz suffered either a fully torn or partially torn ACL. 

Priest then disappeared from TV. It was recently reported that Priest would be returning soon and he did just that.

It has been over a month since Damian Priest wrestled on WWE programming. His last match was a victory over John Morrison in a lumberjack match on the May 17th edition of RAW. The night before he had defeated the Miz in a zombie-lumberjack match at WrestleMania Backlash.

According to comments made by Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Priest’s absence is due to a back injury he’s been dealing with since WrestleMania.

“Bad back, right? He’s injured,” said Dave Meltzer when asked about Priest’s status.

According to a report from Fightful, Priest’s back is healing up and he’ll be ready next week if there are plans for him. They are also noting that Priest has missed the last few weeks for other undisclosed reasons, however.

Priest has never been defeated in a singles match on the main roster. His only loss came in a handicap match against the Miz and John Morrison back in April.

Priest has wrestled 13 matches on the main roster (11 on RAW, 2 on PPV) and holds a 12-1 record. The 38-year-old star his main roster debut in the Royal Rumble this year, entering in at #14.

Damian Priest made his main roster debut at the start of the year. Almost immediately he was put into a big storyline with Bad Bunny leading to their WrestleMania match against The Miz and John Morrison.

During his recent interview with Sporting News Australia, the former NXT star opened up about his experience in the main roster so far among other things.

Talking about his storyline with Bad Bunny, Priest explained how his confidence has grown due to the trust the company has shown in him before revealing that prior to the storyline, he was told that he would be done if he blew the angle:

“Yes it does give me confidence, it goes both ways. I can put in all the work I want, but obviously I also need the company to believe in me and have my back.

 A lot of people were honest with me and they told me ‘listen, you can’t blow this because if you do, you’re done’. All I said was you’re giving me the opportunity, I’m going to do everything to my abilities to knock this out of the park.”

• Damien Priest Reflects On Being Rejected By WWE, Honing His Character

While Damian Priest did not reveal the name behind the comment, he did reveal some names which have helped him since his arrival on the main roster:

“Everybody has been awesome to me, if I have a question or anything. I could go up to say one of the guys in The New Day and they’ll take the time to just sit with me and talk and explain stuff to me, and guide me the right way.”

Damian Priest signed a contract with WWE back in October 2018. He was moved to the main roster in January 2021 after a successful run with the North American championship in NXT.

Damian Priest is set to battle The Miz one-on-one at Wrestlemania Backlash, and after his victory over John Morrison this week on Raw, Priest had the honor of naming the stipulation.

Damian Priest has been feuding with the A-Lister since before Wrestlemania. Good friends with Bad Bunny, who had quite the impressive showing on the first night of Wrestlemania, Priest will be looking to end the feud on Sunday.

After picking up the win, Damian Priest decided that their fight at Backlash would be a lumberjack match. Priest wants to end their feud once and for all and choosing a match with no escape surely means he will get the resolution he seeks.

Their feud has been interesting but has arguably run its course. This match at Backlash will end the feud one way or another. If anything, the build-up could be dropping hints at future storylines. Having cost his partner a match two weeks in a row now, could WWE be teasing a feud between the tag team pair?

Not only did the Miz cost Morrison two matches, but his attempted assault on Priest after the bell resulted in Morrison getting hit by a second Hit the Lights.

Bad blood may be brewing. Could we see Morrison turn on his friend at Backlash, costing him the match? It would not only be fitting after recent weeks but would be a transition from one feud into another.

Whatever the outcome from Backlash, Damian Priest will surely be looking to insert himself into a title hunt somewhere. Impressive since his debut on the main roster, the future is looking bright for the Archer of Infamy.

WWE Superstar Damian Priest recently spoke to Graham Matthews of Fansided. The RAW Superstar discussed a number of topics during the interview, including his angle with Bad Bunny and the impressive debut the Latin artist had at WrestleMania 37.

“We talked about [a potential return] before and after,” Priest began, saying how Bad Bunny feels regarding a WWE in-ring return. “There’s no question that we’ll see Bad Bunny in a WWE ring again. When? I don’t know.”

“He’s really busy, he’s going to start touring again soon” Damian Priest added. “That’s a wild schedule he has to prepare for. But I’d be shocked if we never saw him again. It’s impossible.”

Damian Priest on Bad Bunny

“The love he has for this business and now the love this business has for him, there’s no way I don’t see him coming back” Priest concluded.

Damian Priest finished the interview by saying how Vince McMahon reacted to his own performance at WrestleMania 37. “I made sure to do what he wanted and he told me, ‘I gave you direction last week and this week you implemented it and you did exactly what I wanted you to do. That’s all I ask for. Thank you.’”

“I said, ‘No, thank you.’ That was it” Priest revealed. “At WrestleMania, he gave me a hug and said, ‘Congratulations, I’m happy for you. You did your job well. You should be proud.’”

Would you like to see Bad Bunny back in a WWE ring? Let us know in the comments

The newest Raw star Damian Priest recently had an interview with The Irish Sun where he talked about a number of things and also revealed which stars he would include in his Mt. Rushmore of wrestling.

The 38-year-old Puerto Rican star made his wrestling debut in 2004 and after competing for promotions such as ROH, he finally signed a WWE contract in 2018.

When asked about the 4 stars he would put in his Mt. Rushmore of wrestling, Damian Priest picked up the likes of the Undertaker and The Rock:

“Four sucks. I have so many. Undertaker’s definitely on there, The Rock is there, and I think it has to be Triple H and Shawn Michaels, Undertaker’s always going to be there. He’s the one that made me fall in love with the business when I was a kid.

And The Rock – just the way he is, not just the wrestling.” said Priest “I came from a similar background. I came from nothing.”

• Damian Priest On What Triple H Told Him About Main Roster Call Up

The former NXT star has reportedly made a positive impression on people backstage at Raw since his main roster call up earlier this year.

Damian Priest has recently aligned himself with Bad Bunny and reports suggest that these two will be teaming up to face The Miz and John Morrison at the upcoming WrestleMania 37 event.

Damian Priest is officially a member of the RAW brand now. He took part in the Royal Rumble and then defeated the Miz in singles action last Monday night in his first match for the brand. Priest spoke to SI.com recently about his main roster debut, being a member of the RAW brand, and participating in the 2021 Royal Rumble match.

“This is the dream. It’s been my dream since I was a child, and what excites me the most is I’m starting all over again,” Priest said. “I’m a beginner on Raw. I had that feeling when I first started in this business, and again when I started in NXT. And the icing on the cake is this roster here, which is the absolute best in the world. Edge, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, Keith Lee, The Fiend [Bray Wyatt]. Those are the people I get to work with on Raw.”

Priest now looks to be headed into a program aligned with Bad Bunny going up against the Miz and John Morrison. He also spoke to SI.com about the angle.

“The past week, it’s been like a haze. I’ve been asking myself, Did that really just happen? This whole thing has been so awesome. I’m starting with The Miz, who is a true WWE superstar, one that is also well known outside of wrestling. I’m happy to get to mix it up with him, and like you said, Morrison is amazing.”

Priest continued to talk about what it has been like working with Bad Bunny.

“And I get to work with Bad Bunny. Some people love that Bad Bunny is in WWE; some people hate it. Our fans don’t always accept outsiders, but when it comes to Bad Bunny, he’s one of us. This isn’t some star just coming to WWE for a paycheck—he loves this, and it is very authentic. He wants to learn, and he’s enjoying this and making the most of every second.”

Before he took part in the 2021 men’s Royal Rumble, there had been plenty of rumors regarding when Damian Priest would debut on the main roster. He recently spoke to Sportskeeda about all the various things he heard and was told leading up to his debut.

“You know how it is in this business, you hear things and you’re told things, but things didn’t change. And being that it was that far out, you know, it’s one of those like, ‘Hey, it’s looking like’… but nobody ever wanted to just tell me straight out, because everybody said the same thing. It was like, ‘but you know how things can change, so take it as a maybe.'”

Priest continued to talk about his reaction to hearing rumors he might be in the Rumble match.

“Then there was obviously the, ‘you might be in the Rumble.’ So then there’s that, but also the same thing, ‘like that would be cool, but as of right now, I’m an NXT superstar. Let me just focus on who I want to work with next and what I want to do here.”

Finally, it was Triple H who officially told Priest he was headed to the main roster. Priest spoke about what Triple H said to him.

 “He wanted to tell me face to face and shake my hand and congratulate me. I appreciate that he was the one just cause he’s helped me so much, and he believed in me. That’s the main thing. Like he’s actually believed in me and helped me to believe that it’s okay to be myself. So I was really appreciative that he was the one and the words he said to me, you know like, as far as like going forward and it was super cool.”

A WWE NXT star could have made their main roster debut last week on SmackDown, but plans for this to happen were changed. 

WrestleVotes reports that this unknown star was supposed to appear in the main event segment on the episode that featured Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. 

It wasn’t mentioned in the report who this star is, but it was noted that the wrestler is said to be on the card for Wednesday’s episode of NXT New Year’s Evil. There’s no word yet on whether WWE has nixed all plans to call up this NXT star or if it was pushed back by one week. 

It was later reported by Fightul Select that Damian Priest could be headed to Raw or SmackDown soon, as WWE was discussing his call-up from NXT earlier this week.

Priest is scheduled to take on Karrion Kross at tonight’s NXT New Year’s Evil. This bout will open the show and will air without commercial interruptions.

Last week’s SmackDown featured Owens beating Uso in a singles match. After the contest, he was attacked by Reigns and Uso. The segment ended with Reigns tossing Owens from a platform in the crowd through a table.

Former NXT North American Champion Damian Priest has admitted he wasn’t initially invested in his feud with Leon Ruff. Priest recently joined Sean “X-Pac” Waltman on an episode of his podcast, X-Pac 12360.

He explained how, when the storyline first began, he wasn’t 100% invested in what WWE had planned. Priest confessed he didn’t know what to expect but noted he had different ideas to what was presented.

It wasn’t until he spoke with Ruff and got to know him that Priest began to be sold more on the storyline. He explained how “As we progressed and everything happened, I couldn’t imagine a cooler storyline that wasn’t about me but actually elevated and helped someone else, deservedly. I really like Leon Ruff. He’s just as loveable, humble, and respectful (as you see on TV).”

Priest shared how he’s happy Ruff has had the spotlight put on him. Although he doesn’t know how Ruff’s WWE career will progress, he looks forward to watching it develop. He acknowledged how Ruff “hit my heart” the way he did with the WWE Universe.

“I felt a bond to the person. He loves this business. It wasn’t something I was super enthused about, but I learned my lesson of, ‘not everything is going to be the way you think, but it’s probably going to be pretty good if you just trust.'”

Damian Priest recently competed in a Triple Threat match against Johnny Gargano and Leon Ruff at NXT TakeOver: WarGames. The NXT North American Championship was on the line. Gargano would ultimately win the bout, becoming a three-time NXT North American Champion.

Former WWE, TNA and WCW personality Jim Cornette recently discussed NXT’s recent Takeover event on the Drive Thru podcast. Cornette had a number of comments regarding some of the talent on the gold brand, including NXT North American Champion Damian Priest and Johnny Gargano.

Jim Cornette would state that he is huge fan of Damian Priest, saying that he has the right look and skill to be a top guy in WWE. “They started out with one of my favourite talents in the company, Damian Priest. [He was] defending the North American Title against one of my least favourite people in the company, Johnny Sameface (Gargano).”

Jim Cornette on Johnny Gargano

“I wrote down, a new viewer: ‘why is this bad ass fighting this little teenage kid?'” Cornette would continue. “Besides the distraction from the lights? Now we’ve got to look at the the virtual fans? Also the crowd noise and everything that I was getting used to? I’m looking at this, and I’m thinking…when Damian Priest is a top guy on Raw, or SmackDown? There’s going to be footage of him getting the sh*t kicked out of him by this tiny little egg plant.”

Jim Cornette would go further, saying “when did Razor Ramon go 20 minutes on pay per view with Barry Horowitz? Because that’s exactly the situation here. You got a bigger, better looking, better worker with a top guy size, top guy promo, top guy gimmick? Against a guy who’s a very good technical worker and has no other outstanding characteristic whatsoever?”

• Arn Anderson Talks Linda McMahon’s Backstage Influence in WWE

Cornette would finish by labelling Gargano, one of NXT’s top stars, as the blandest man in wrestling. “He’s got that charisma vacuum going where he sucks charisma from those around him. Johnny Sameface: bland, boring, small, tiny white guy that executes all the moves. I love Damian Priest, I couldn’t believe he went 20 minutes getting his ass kicked by wrestling’s blandest man.”

Do you agree with Jim Cornette on Johnny Gargano and Damien Priest? Let us know in the comments

Damian Priest put his newly won NXT North American Title on the line in one of the matches featured on the WWE NXT TakeOver 31 card. 

He did so when he squared off with Johnny Gargano in Orlando, Florida. The contest was a typical big guy vs. small wrestler dynamic to kick off the card. 

Some highlights included Priest doing an outside dive to accidentally take out some extras before Gargano connected with a superkick after hitting him with a low blow. Priest retained the title with his finisher. 

Priest won the title by winning the then-vacant title in a five-way ladder match at TakeOver XXX last month. In fact, Gargano also took part in the contest and it came down him and Priest. The finish of that match saw Priest kick Gargano down and then retrieved the title.

Priest then made his first defense of the North American Title when he retained against Timothy Thatcher. It happened in the main event of a recent episode of NXT. 

Shortly thereafter, Gargano and Candice LeRae declared their intentions to come after they’re both coming after championship gold.

• Top NXT Star Was ‘Shocked’ By Pat McAfee’s Debut Match

After weeks of building to it, WWE held the Ladder Match to crown a new North American Champion at NXT TakeOver: XXX. 

The contest at the event that aired on the WWE Network saw Bronson Reed vs. Damian Priest vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream. As expected, it was a chaotic and wild match. 

Some of the more noteworthy spots included a power of doom with everyone in the corner and Reed hitting other competitors with a splash using a ladder. Priest went for a springboard flip and ate supper kick by Gargano. Grimes did a splash off the apron onto Gargano that set up Reed hitting an outside dive to take out everyone. 

Near the end of the match, Grimes went climbing but Candice LeRae knocked over the ladder and she attacked him, which led to Gargano taking him out with a ladder. Reed was close to getting the title, but LeRae tried to push the title away. Reed put LeRae on his back and did a front body splash off the ladder onto Gargano with her. Dream was sent flying off a ladder over a barricade through a table.

In the end, it was Priest who cleared the scattered bodies and had enough energy left to climb the ladder and grabbed the championship to become the new champion. 

The title became vacant when Keith Lee gave up the title on the July 22nd episode of NXT. He beat Adam Cole to win the NXT Title on a special episode of NXT last month in a Winner Takes All Match. 

WWE held a series of qualifying matches to determine competitors in this ladder match. Reed defeated Gargano and Roderick Strong to become the first to qualify for the match. Lumis joined Reed as the second person to qualify by defeating Finn Balor while Priest defeated Oney Lorcan and NXT UK’s Ridge Holland. Grimes defeated Kushida, Gargano beat Holland, and the returning Velveteen Dream beat Balor. 

• NXT Star Reportedly Seen As ‘The Next Big Thing’ By WWE Officials

What are your thoughts on Priest winning the NXT North American Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.