WWE star Damian Priest's San Juan Street Fight against rapper, megastar, and WWE super fan Bad Bunny at WWE Backlash 2023 is something the former World Heavyweight Champion has spoken about a lot, as he takes pride in the bout, a match fought in Puerto Rico, home turf for both Priest and Bunny. In a recent interview, however, on Prince St. Pizza's YouTube channel, Priest revealed a little more about the match that he said he doesn't often talk about: just how nervous he was.
"Not because I was wrestling... but the nerves of, if this is not good, if this doesn't work, what happens to me and my career?" Priest said.
Priest said that WWE wasn't sure about running the show in Puerto Rico, something he said happens all the time and wasn't specific to the island. He said the rapper, specifically, wanted the match to happen there. They then had to decide what kind of match they were doing, and it was presumably going to be another tag match, like Priest and Bunny did at WrestleMania 37 against The Miz and John Morrison.
"Just because, and rightfully so, they didn't trust, a lot of it had to do with me, because I hadn't proven myself in that sense yet," he said. "But also with anybody, just in general, it's just safer if you just added more people, because we just never had done that before... But he was adamant that he wanted to be one-on-one, especially on the island in Puerto Rico. I was actually adamant about it to, I just had a lot less pull than he did, especially at that time."
He explained they both wanted the singles match, because they knew what kind of impact it would have on the culture, and the economy, on the island.
Priest said when WWE finally agreed to the singles match, he was flying to LA every week to train Bad Bunny. He said when the day of the match came, he knew it was more important than just about anything he was ever going to do.
"Winning championships, don't get me wrong, winning the world title at WrestleMania is incredible, but having something that has an actual impact on the local community," he said. "This was more than just a dream. This was a dream I didn't know I was having, put it that way. The fact that we went out there and then killed it. Man, that one I was like, 'I can retire right now and I'm okay with it.' And for him, I'll say this, the only reason why it was good was he busted his a** to make sure it was good. He brought it."
Priest explained that since he's known Bad Bunny, the rapper always has to be "full throttle" if he's going to do something. Priest said it's because he doesn't want to embarrass himself or his people, and Bunny is "very prideful" in that sense.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Prince St. Pizza on YouTube and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
