WWE star and former U.S. champion Damian Priest recently spoke with WrestleTalk about a wide range of pro-wrestling-related topics, which included the Judgement Day member sharing a number of stories of WWE legends giving him advice that helped him grow into the performer that he is today. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
How no one in NXT wanted to change him, just improve his best qualities:
“I don’t know who, I mean, when you talk about my time in NXT that’s probably where I did my most learning, working alongside like Shawn Michaels and (Matt) Bloom and all the coaches there. The best part about it was when I first got started here, none of the coaches, none of the legends and producers, none of the people that tried to guide me, they never wanted to completely change me. They just wanted to make who I am and what I do bigger, better. They’re like, ‘Hey we don’t necessarily change who you are. We just want to make you, the best ‘you’ possible’. That was like a Shawn Michaels thing, which was, I mean coming for Shawn that was pretty sweet, right?”
Says he received sound advice from Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Undertaker:
“He’s up there, but I’ve been fortunate to also get advice at the time from somebody like Scott Hall. You know, Kevin Nash has been around and gave me some advice. Undertaker has always been really cool with just, you know, little details. Obviously, Triple H, from my time in NXT to even now, but he’s always helped guide talent, right. Edge was another person that, while I was in NXT, would just reach out to me to give me advice.”
How certain legends would share advice just to be helpful:
“And a lot of these guys would just (give me advice) for no gain of their own, they have nothing to gain. They are who they are, they’re the legends, they’re the Hall of Famers, they won *laughs*. But for whatever reason, they decided to want to help others and me specifically. And I’m grateful, so I’ve learned a great deal from all of them. And it’s great because it’s like ice cream, right. There’s flavors and it might not be your favorite, but you take pieces and different aspects of everything and you make it your own. So I’ve been fortunate to learn from so many incredible individuals.”