During an appearance on Gorilla Position, Damian Priest revealed that the North American Title ladder match at Takeover XXX was the first one that he had ever competed in. Here’s what he had to say:
Yeah, so there was also a different kind of pressure going into that match, because I was the only one in the match that has never been in a ladder match. And I remember just to kind of warm up to the idea, I went to the PC and I asked them to put a ladder in the ring, just so I could stand on it. Just to see what it felt like and the height. Because I had so many ideas, and I’m like ‘Aw man, I’m going to destroy this match! We’re gonna go crazy!’ And then I climbed that ladder and I was like, ‘Nope!’ And I got right back down. Man, it’s scary. I’m not the biggest fan of heights, so… I know that sounds weird considering some of the things I do. But every time I go to do one of those crazy, high-risk maneuvers in the moment, instantly I regret it.
I didn’t watch them at the PC, so I did watch them at home. I can’t even count how many ladder matches I watched in preparation. And I got absolutely nothing out of them, because I was like, ‘These guys are just so good! They’re so good at this. I can’t do any of this!’ [laughs] And I asked tons of questions from a lot of people that have been in ladder matches, just big brains and legends and stuff. So I think that helped.
You can listen HERE.
Credit: Gorilla Position. H/T 411Mania.