Damian Priest Was Unsure About One Judgment Day Member
Damian Priest was Edge’s first recruit into The Judgment Day back at WrestleMania 38 but as the group has changed and grown over the space of a year, The Punishment of the group has admitted there was one member he was unsure about working with.
Edge recruited Priest into the group before the pair added Rhea Ripley in the spring of 2022. After a six-person tag team match at Hell In A Cell, however, it was all change for the group as they drafted in Finn Balor and then turned on Edge.
At Clash at the Castle in September 2022, Dominik Mysterio turned on Edge and his own father as he fell in with a bad crowd and made the Judgment Day trio a quartet.
Speaking on the Out of Character podcast, Damian Priest discussed working with his Judgment Day partners and explains just how proud he is of “little sister” Rhea Ripley:
“Obviously everybody knows that we became friends in NXT and we’ve stayed close ever since. She’s like my little sister. I’m so happy and proud. I legit got a little emotional last night just seeing how hard she’s worked. She’s been through a lot, being away from home and away from her family. I mean, a lot of us sacrifice, but not to that level. I mean, her family is literally on the other side of the planet and goes years without seeing them.
“For somebody who grew up very close knit with their family, that’s hard, but she muscles through, literally, and keeps working hard and never stops striving for more. It’s really gratifying on my end to witness it, to be a part of it, and share that enjoyment that she’s feeling right now. I’m so proud of her.”
Priest then went on to detail his relationship with Finn Balor which blossomed in NXT and he admits he was unsure when Dominik Mysterio was put with the group:
“When I was in NXT, I was in a feud with Finn Balor, that’s when things started to click. Then on RAW, we had Judgment Day and he was going to come in and we got to work together again, but instead of on opposite sides, we were on the same side. But it’s the same thing. There’s a connection and we understand each other whether we’re against or with, it works. We have a chemistry that goes well and flows.
“Rhea, obviously that was an easy one because we were always homies. Dom was actually the only one that I wasn’t sure about because I didn’t really know him that well. I knew him as Rey’s kid, that’s it, and now we’re best friends which is awesome. Like, we’re always together even when we’re back home. When we’re off the road, we’re hanging out. So it’s pretty neat that we’ve all gotten this close and it’s just not on camera. Off camera, we probably are even closer.”
Dominik Mysterio has stolen the show since joining Judgment Day as his chemistry with Ripley on-screen and his feud with his father WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio have catapulted to new heights of loathing from the WWE faithful.