Damian Priest officially became the longest-reigning United States Champion of the brand-split era after he won over Shelton Benjamin on the latest RAW match. This is the new milestone for him as he held the U.S Title for 186 days which is the longest reign since Dean Ambrose/Jon Moxley's 351-day title run.
Damian Priest broke the record of Bobby Lashley who held over the US Champion of the brand-split era for 175 days from August 2020-Feb2021. Damian Priest is scheduled to be on a match against Finn Balor on February 28th Raw for the U.S. Title match in Columbus, Ohio. Damian defeated the former Hurt Business member, Shelton in three minutes so he opened a challenge to a world title-level competitor that bought out former Universal Champion Finn Balor to accept the challenge.
Finn Balor was away from TV for a month and recently made his comeback in an NXT match with Dolph Ziggler and won over The Dirty Dawgs teaming up with Tommaso Ciampa. Damian and Finn had a feud in the past in WWE and clashed at NXT TakeOver:In Your House 2020 when Finn won. WWE Hall of Famer Edge had also called out Damian Priest as a potential opponent for WrestleMania 38.
Damian Priest Net Worth, Wrestling Career, & Contract
Damian Priest has an estimated net worth of $2 million. He has a base salary of $180,000 per year from WWE. He also earns through PPV appearances and royalties from merchandise sales.
Damian Priest signed with WWE back in October 2018 and was moved to the main roster in January 2021 after he had a successful run with the North American championship in NXT. He also had a storyline with Bad Bunny and had shared that he would be done if he blew the angle of that so he explained that his confidence had grown from that experience.
Damian revealed that he had several tryouts in 2015 but at that time, he was declined and said that there was nothing for him. So, he just worked with other pro wrestling companies and when he was about to sign a new deal, he got contacted by WWE in 2018.
Damian Priest made his debut in 2004 but started getting in the limelight after he appeared on D2W Pro Wrestling, Dynamite Championship Wrestling, Empire State Wrestling, Fusion Wrestling, International Wrestling Cartel, and more in 2012. He won his first championship at MFPW Turkey Slam on16 November 2013. He started appearing on Ring of Honor from 2015 to 2018 and appeared on NXT matches from 2018. He has won a one-time ROH World Television Championship, NXT North American Championship, and is the current WWE United Staes Championship.
His finishing and signature moves are The Reckoning/Hit The Lights, Razor's Edge, Broken Arrow, South of Heaven, and more. He was also nicknamed Punisher, The Punishment, and The Archer of Infamy.
Damien Priest himself shared that he had worked very hard to become something special and was frustrated in his initial stage but pointed out how to change his life and developed a positive work ethic. He explained that he was going to put on whatever performance was needed so that his name would live forever.
Who Is Damian Priest? Real Name And Facts
Damian Priest is an American professional wrestler and is considered one of the top rising stars on WWE Monday Night Raw. He was born to Puerto Rican parents and grew up there though he was born in New York City. His real name is Luis Martinez and has used ring names like Publisher Martinez and Damian Martinez.
Damian Priest has a height of 6 feet 5 inches and is currently 39 years old. He was also a professional martial artist and trained karate, a Japanese style of martial art from his father, and had also won national championships in martial arts.
Damian is also known to be a fan of heavy metal and rock music and leads a rockstar lifestyle according to his Instagram bio. He lost 100 pounds which helped him improve his performance. He mentioned Razor Ramon as his wrestling Idol whom he watched while growing up.
Damian Priest is also known to be a private person who doesn't share much about his love life in the public.