Damian Priest Becomes World Heavyweight Champion At WWE WrestleMania 40

Señor Money in the Bank finally cashes in to become the new World Heavyweight Champion.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE WrestleMania XL Damian Priest Judgment Day
WWE

In a night that saw four title changes, Damian Priest left WWE WrestleMania Night 2 as the new World Heavyweight Champion.

Opening Night 2, an already battered, broken-down Seth Rollins was picked apart by Drew McIntyre, with the Scottish Warrior taking advantage of the damage done to Seth on Night 1 of 'Mania XL by Roman Reigns and the Rock. Despite a valiant effort from the Visionary, McIntyre put Rollins away with a Claymore in about ten minutes... but it was the powerhouse's obsession with CM Punk that would prove his downfall.

Having had an emotional moment in-ring as he was presented with the World Heavyweight Title, Drew would head outside to celebrate with his wife who was in the front row. However, DM Hunk couldn't help but head over to the commentary table to taunt CM Punk with his shiny new piece of gold. While Punk initially encouraged McIntyre to celebrate the moment and enjoy it with his family, the Scot stood on the commentary table and gave the Second City Saint the classic Suck It taunt.

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That caused Punk to take off his arm support and hit McIntyre with it, before putting some boots to the big fella. And with that, the Judgment Day's music hit and Damian Priest raced out, cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, rolled Drew into the ring, hit the South of Heaven, and scored the 1-2-3 to become the new World Heavyweight Champion - leading Priest to celebrate with his stablemates on the WrestleMania stage setup.

As for the other two of WrestleMania XL Night 2's title changes, Bayley dethroned IYO SKY to become the new WWE Women's Champion, while Cody Rhodes finally finished his story and defeated Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. In the other title match of the night, Logan Paul retained the United States Championship in a triple-threat against Kevin Owens and Randy Orton, pinning Owens with a frog splash after KO had already been hit with an RKO.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.