Damian Priest Reveals Who Pushed For WWE Backlash 2023 In Puerto Rico
Damian Priest says that the decision to run WWE Backlash 2023 in Puerto Rico didn’t come from the company’s bosses.
The 2023 edition of WWE Backlash featured a big matchup between former tag team partners Damian Priest and Grammy-Award-winning artist Bad Bunny. While the match didn’t main event the show, it was the most highly anticipated match on the card and certainly exceeded expectations.
It was a match that saw Bad Bunny get the win over Priest in what could be considered an upset. The match had plenty of interference from Priest’s allies in The Judgment Day along with Bunny’s friends from the LWO.
What was unique about Backlash 2023 is that it took place in front of a rabid crowd in San Juan, Puerto Rico that WWE fans will remember as one of the best crowds ever.
In an interview with the Rob Brown Show, Priest revealed that he and Bad Bunny pitched WWE to run Backlash in Puerto Rico, which is where both men grew up.
“It’s one of those things that it goes beyond one match, one performance, one win or loss. What we did culturally was big. We set the tone for the idea that WWE would do all these events outside of the United States and have success. You listen to the crowd; you saw the records that were broken.”
“It’s obvious that this could be done everywhere. Not to say that the company wasn’t going to go in this direction anyway, but I think it made everybody feel a little more comfortable knowing that there is a positive to come.”
“You had Bad Bunny and myself doing something special on the island. We fought for the show, by the way. It wasn’t guaranteed that Backlash was going to be in Puerto Rico. Bad Bunny and I specifically fought for it. We fought to get others like Savio Vega and Carlito involved and other Latinos, in general, on the show. We needed them to represent. No matter where their heritage was from, we needed representation.”
“That set the table for things like Rhea Ripley headlining in Perth and that show revolving around her. We have Berlin coming up, and that’s going to be Gunther’s domain. We have Scotland, and that’s Drew McIntyre’s domain. It’s cool that we’re going to all these different places internationally and having someone to represent them. That shows the expansion of the company, the individuals, and our fanbase growing.”
Even though Priest lost that match to Bad Bunny at Backlash, he did well for himself two months later by winning the Money in the Bank contract. That contract set up Priest to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania 40 when he cashed in the contract on Drew McIntyre.
Damian Priest Recently Signed New WWE Contract
As the current World Heavyweight Champion on the Raw brand, Priest is being heavily featured on television. It was also revealed that Priest signed a WWE contract back in February and the company waited until just days before the deal expired to get the big man to sign the new deal.