WrestleMania 40 will go down as, without question, one of the wildest and best in the event’s entire storied history. The second day in particular was fantastic from start to finish, and few moments stood taller than Damian Priest’s epic cash-in. The Judgment Day workhorse finally used his title contract after sitting on it for almost a year and won The World Heavyweight Championship in what was, unquestionably the biggest pop of his career. As a fan who appreciates all the work he’s put in and all the selfless matches he’s done to elevate others, I was buzzing for him, and apparently, much of the rest of the roster was too.
In the hours since his shocking victory, social media has been flooded with fantastic pictures and really touching videos of The Archer Of Infamy, especially from his stablemates The Judgment Day. Rhea Ripley has been on a posting and retweeting frenzy, repping her Terror Twin more than a dozen times since his big victory last night. Perhaps my favorite is this split photo she retweeted of her and Damian Priest holding lesser championships three years ago when they were on the rise on one side and holding their world championships at the top of the WWE mountain on the other side. Check it out…
We got an incredible shot on the show itself of Damian Priest celebrating with the rest of Judgment Day at the top of the ramp after his cash-in. It’s obvious in those shots how much the group genuinely cares for each other on a personal level that transcends wrestling, but it somehow comes across in an even more touching way in a behind the scenes video of the team watching the events unfold from a monitor in the back.
In the clip, Dominik Mysterio is seen counting with the referee, and as soon as Priest wins, the whole team lets out a euphoric celebration. Rhea is beside herself she’s so happy. JD McDonagh looks like he just won the lottery, and Finn is rooting as hard as possible. It’s fantastic. You can watch the magic below…
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After the dust settled on Priest’s win, he gave Triple H a hug and thanked him in a great moment that’s also running around social media, and then he went to do a promo interview with backstage personality Cathy Kelley. You can tell he’s hyped up and trying to get into character to project the aura he wants when suddenly, he’s unexpectedly blindsided by Judgment Day who dump water on his head like he just won a championship in professional sports. It’s really endearing to watch, and you can check out the clip below, which also includes an amazing exchange where Dom is mean to Cathy and then an oblivious Rhea says goodbye to her in the nicest voice possible.
There are honestly so many cute pictures and behind the scenes videos that there’s not enough room in this article to cover them all. Damian took a series of pictures with his family and The Judgment Day. There are all kinds of behind the scenes crowd angles when the team was off camera that show them hugging and nerding out together, but perhaps my favorite of all was dropped on JD McDonagh’s Instagram Stories and shows Priest turning up to a post WrestleMania party with his World Heavyweight Championship. McDonagh films him and lets him have the moment for awhile, before he pans back to himself and smiles like a proud brother. Check it out…
Triple H, along with Bruce Prichard and the other key execs and writers in WWE, have pushed into a new era that has, up until this point, prioritized long title reigns. Roman Reigns, Gunther, Rhea Ripley and Seth Rollins have had a stranglehold on the more important belts, which has really helped grow the business and elevate their characters. Unfortunately, it has left people like Damian Priest on the outside, as they’ve quietly appeared in Raw main events and took some losses to help keep those other characters strong.
I have no idea how long Priest’s reign will last. It seems likely the goal is going to be to get to CM Punk and Drew McIntyre at some point, which will likely involve The World Heavyweight Championship. Maybe Drew will win it back at Clash At The Castle in June, which will be in front of his home crowd, but even if he’s ultimately just a transitional champion, Damian Priest will always have this epic moment and this run where he’s a world champion, and I couldn’t be happier for him or happier that his buddies in The Judgment Day are so happy for him.
