Damian Priest Drawing Major Backstage Praise For "Toughness" After Working While Banged Up (WWE News)
Priest's fellow wrestlers and WWE management are impressed with his resilience.
PWInsider Elite reports that Damian Priest has been earning a tremendous amount of respect behind the scenes by continuing to grit his teeth and work through niggling injuries. Both Priest's fellow WWE stars and members of upper management are impressed that he's able to perform at such a consistent high level despite being "very banged up" and physically sore.
The website's sources backstage also told them that many are currently "marvelling at his toughness", and everyone's especially happy with how his feud opposite heel bruiser Drew McIntyre has been going on TV and PLE. The pair worked a thumping 'Sin City Street Fight' at WrestleMania 41, and they've been producing the goods in other promo spots on SmackDown as well.
Recently, Priest sent McIntyre and himself crashing through stacked tables during a four-way match for the United States Title at Backlash. Their big bump paved the way for Jacob Fatu's win over LA Knight, and it's believed that both Damian and Drew were smashed up after the spot.
It did get a lot of attention though, so both will surely consider the pain worthwhile. WWE chiefs remain pleased that Priest is able to get stuck in even though he's nowhere near 100%.
Priest And McIntyre Set For Steel Cage Showdown
It looks like Priest and McIntyre will bring the curtain down on their blood feud at this weekend's Saturday Night's Main Event special. There, they'll meet in a steel cage war to settle the score. That was confirmed as official on last week's episode of SmackDown in pre-taped promos, and during an in-ring speech by Drew.
WWE haven't made this clear on television, but there's every chance the winner will move back into World/WWE Title contention soon. Of course, that all depends on what the company's creative team has in mind for both John Cena and Jey Uso over the summer months - there's also chatter amongst fans that McIntyre vs. Cody Rhodes in a non-title rivalry could be on tap.
If so, then there's a decent chance Drew takes the win on Saturday night. The fact the bout is so open-ended must please Triple H, to be fair. Either winner would be credible, but 'The Game' might well reward Priest for his recent toughness whilst battling through some nagging injuries on the road.